Every World needs its hero
by Ezmee
Summary: Sequel to 'sixteen years sixteen tears'. It's still Rietro, still Lancitty, and still Kurt/Tabby, but hey, that could change! Things are a little bit more serious this time, what with threats to the world and all, and there should be lots of drama! Pleeee
1. A prologue and a really long authors not...

Every world needs its hero  
  
Prologue  
  
Lorna Baker made extra care when dressing for school on the first day back. Not only was it a golden opportunity to move ahead in the annual race to be the most popular girl in school, what with everybody paying attention to how you'd changed over the summer, and passing a critical eye over whatever it was you'd dared to wear. Not that Lorna was really scared about putting a foot wrong fashion wise. She and her small, select group of friends had ruled the school all last year, and she didn't expect anything to be different.  
  
There was, however, another reason to be so interested in the first day back at school. She'd heard over the summer, that a bunch of new students were to arrive at her school for the start of the year. She didn't know where they were from, or how many there were, or even how old they were. These unanswered questions had led to masses of speculation throughout the holidays, talk rustling through the students and the town over just who these new arrivals could be.  
  
The rumours of new arrivals had been proved true, when moving trucks were spotted by eagle eyed dog walkers outside the long abandoned beach side mansion. The house had become something of a legend amongst the residents of Bedford. Now reaching a derelict state, it had long been the subject of many a ghost story, shrouded in tales of murdered wives and occupants who bought more than they bargained for. But now the house was occupied, and try as they might, the people who had been lucky enough to spy the moving trucks in the first place, could not catch a glimpse of who it was that now lived in the old house, and the mystery had dragged the whole town into a summer of whispered gossip.  
  
You see, in a town like Bedford Falls, the arrival of a group of new students made for headline news. Nothing ever happened here. Nothing. Students went back and forth from the high school, adults went back and forth from their sleepy little jobs, and life in the small town, with its predictably small shops and its carefully cared for Town hall, could be entirely defined by the word monotonous.  
  
So it was with great excitement and enthusiasm that the students gathered round the gates of Bedford High that morning, with even some of the teaching staff being coaxed from their morning coffees and staff room gossip, to watch for the new arrivals with an almost obsessive curiosity that had engulfed the town.  
  
Lorna, as per usual, arrived once a suitable crowd had gathered round the school entrance, for once not caring that a large amount of people had not noticed her arrival. She immediately picked out her group of friends, what with them being the best dressed out of the crowd of adolescents. She sauntered over, going for an attitude of casual interest into who the new students were.  
  
Once her presence had been acknowledged, and many hugs, screams and kisses had been exchanged, the group settled back into their vigil, watching for an unfamiliar car pulling into the parking lot, or a new face moving along the roadside.  
  
They were rewarded for their patience when two new vehicles pulled to a stop in the parking lot. The waiting group drew in a collective breath, as doors began to open, letting the dark interior of the car release its passengers, and one by one, brand new faces pulled themselves from the darkness into the critical daylight of Bedford High.  
  
There were nine of them in total, and in those opening moments of their entrance into the school, Lorna felt she was able to make a pretty good assessment of them all.  
  
There were two who looked to be very good friends. Which was good for them, because otherwise they'd probably be complete misfits. One was really short, and kind of stooped over, like he'd spent a good few years of his life crouching down. two words that sprung to Lorna's mind when she looked at him were slimy, and ewwww (all right its not a real word, but Lorna isn't the smartest cookie in the batch). His friend was really his complete opposite. She didn't think she'd ever seen anybody so round. He was absolutely huge, but his face had an almost child like quality to it, as though if you hurt his feelings, he would scream and bawl until you made things better. Lorna made a snap judgement, and decided it was best not to even insult these two, and to just steer clear of them altogether.  
  
The guy standing behind them was much more appealing. He had fairly short brown hair, which flopped down either side of his forehead. He was tall and slim, and shining red sunglasses obscured his eyes. Mmmm Lorna thought, great fashion sense.  
  
He seemed a lot more nervous than the other two, and kept looking around like he trying to decide what he was actually doing there.  
  
Being that the rest of the new people seemed to be paired up, Lorna assumed that the remaining three guys were taking. Which was a real shame, because they were all really cute. The first was tall, though a bit better built than the shades wearing guy. He wore clothes that gave him a real attitude, that made him seem like a real rebel, and that made all the girls around him really swoon. Unfortunately, he had his arm swung round a shorter girl, with brown hair pulled into a high ponytail, whose look screamed valley girl wannabe. Enough said.  
  
Moving on, Lorna turned her attention to the next little couple. Even to her eyes, the guy with strangely bluish hair had an atmosphere of mischief around him, he was practically bouncing along, dragging with him a blonde haired girl who looked to be his girlfriend. Lorna gave her a once over, and turned to her friend Kristen.  
  
'Trailer trash' she whispered, causing her friend to giggle and nod enthusiastically, discarding the blonde and making a mental note to find out just how strong her relationship with the cute 'blue' guy really was.  
  
Naturally, the most interesting two people to get out the car were the last to enter the scrutiny of the existing students. The first thing to spring to mind when you looked at them was the word white. The hair of the slim, almost streamlined boy was a shocking silver-white, glistening in the sun, and his companion had shocking white streaks at the front of her otherwise dark hair, which Lorna assumed she had dyed to compliment her boyfriend's hair. Dressed in a skirt and cropped t-shirt, she had the effect of making many boys jaws drop for a few seconds, before being pushed back into place by their angry girlfriends. Lorna tutted at this, even though she grudgingly admired the girls taste in men. There was something undeniably appealing about the silver haired boy who almost oozed confidence, and looked at his girlfriend with a besotted expression.  
  
Having dusted herself down, the white striped girl followed her friends as they began to push through the throngs of students as though they saw crowds of spectators around them like this every day. Several male eyes followed her progress, including those of the guy Lorna had a date with that Friday night. She smacked him on the arm and brought him back down to earth, before turning back to Kristin and saying with venom in her voice 'What a slut!'  
  
Ahead of them, 'stripes' turned around, and looked immediately to the two girls, giving them an unnerving glance. She let a small smile cross her face, before throwing a little wave in their direction.  
  
The next thing Lorna knew, she was lying on her back on the well-trodden ground of the school entrance, having gone flying backwards into a crowd of giggling teens.  
  
As 'stripes' kept walking into the school building, she let the smile on her face grow a little bit wider.  
  
  
  
DISCLAIMER: All X-men evolution characters and situations are property of Marvel and WB  
  
AUTHORS NOTE: There you go, the mutants have landed! Sorry this doesn't really have any action in it, but I wanted to use this bit to introduce the characters to their new environment from a different perspective. In the first chapter, you'll see what happened on the first day from the mutants' point of view, and I'll get the main storyline running. Ooooh, I'm excited about writing this one, I have a lot of things planned! Sorry about the length of this bit too, but its just the prologue, I'm looking to write a lot more for this story.  
  
I have a massive apology to make though, and that is that there will be no Gambit in this story (ducks stones that are now being thrown). I'm soooooooo sorry, but I started the layout for this story before Gambit was introduced into the programme, and adding him in would destroy the plot. So I'm really massively sorry guys, but you're going to have to settle for plain old Rietro until I'm done on this story, and then maybe I'll look to writing a Remy/Rogue.  
  
Oh, one more thing. A couple of people have asked about Rogue being able to bring back Rahne with her powers. Yes, Rogue does have the power of every mutant, but no mutant has the power to bring back the dead fully, and even if they did, what they'd get is a reanimated corpse, or a zombie. It wouldn't really be Rahne. Sorry, but you have brought up an issue which will probably feature in this story, as Rogue wonders just why she wasn't able to save Rahne…. 


	2. A different perspective and a bad dream

Chapter 2  
  
Apocalypse surveyed the world with a mixture of triumph, and the utmost revulsion. After all these years, he had returned to the world, but look what had become of it. He could smell it in the air, feel it all around him, seeping into his new, almost impenetrable body. The earth had become corrupt; the planet was now infested with lesser beings. It was his duty to cleanse the world, and those who would stand in his way would suffer the same fate as all the others.  
  
He breathed deeply, taking in not only the dusty, decrepit air of the old tomb, but the scene around him. Torches burned brightly, sending flickers of lighting flying over the carved, sandy stonewalls. It was just as he remembered; yet it wasn't the same. The stale air had been disturbed before he had awoken, and now, the scent of humanity was thick in the tomb. It was disgusting really.  
  
Apocalypse looked down, staring all the long way to the floor that he now towered above. Right in front of him, bent on his hands and knees, was the creature he supposed had been responsible for his return. It was a human, yet not quite. He was a mutant, a psychic in all likelihood. He was stooped low, his head bowed in both reverence and fear. It was right that he should feel fear.  
  
He spoke, his voice ringing through the dim chamber, making the lit torches dance even more violently along the walls. 'Who are you mutant, and what exactly is your reason for being here?'  
  
The man looked up in awe and shock, almost as if he were scared that his efforts had all gone to waste. There was a frightened stutter in his words as he answered. 'My….my name is Mesmero, and I am here to serve you, My lord Apocalypse.'  
  
The giant considered his words. It was true, to really succeed in his quest to rid the world of pestilence, he would be needing the services of mutants, even if only temporarily. He looked again at the cowering man on the floor, weighing up his options. Yes he would require a band of mutants, but there was no real reason why he couldn't be selective about it. He was sure he could find another willing psychic somewhere.  
  
Besides, there was something about this mutant he just found irritating. Maybe it was his total fear, maybe just his manner. He looked into the mans face, bestowed him a disgusted sneer, and used his newly resurrected power to ensure that that was the last thing Mesmero ever saw.  
  
  
  
Rogue woke up suddenly, fighting the urge to scream. Beads of sweat coursed down her forehead, and she was breathing fast, as though she'd just run a thousand miles. She gripped the side of her bed tightly, as she felt spasms of fear and tension run through her body. After taking a few, steadying breaths, and trying her hardest not to wake up Kitty or Tabby, whom she was sharing a room with for the moment, Rogue tried to piece together just what it was that had caused her to wake up.  
  
She'd had a nightmare, that much was obvious. But it wasn't a normal bad dream; it had lacked the absurdity of a normal nightmare. She just couldn't quite picture what she had seen in the dream, though at the same time she had been astounded at the real, lifelike quality her dream had taken. It was like having a memory, which you were almost convinced happened, but you can't remember exactly what happened. Rogue remembered a dark room; it was old, and musty. Perhaps a tomb? But then, if it were a tomb, why did she have the lingering impression of glistening metal, and life as well as death. Just what was it that she'd seen?  
  
The thoughts were beginning to hurt her head. Rogue had become almost used to just naturally knowing things. When she'd turned sixteen, she'd sort of come of age, and had developed, well, pretty much every mutants power. It was only thanks to a necklace, which had been given to her by her mother, that she was able to properly control her powers, and ensure that they didn't get in the way of her everyday life.  
  
That was another thing that had changed in Rogue's life since she'd turned sixteen. Her mother had revealed herself, and she'd turned out to be an enemy of Rogues, who'd been made to abandon her with another mutant, named Destiny, when she was only a baby. Since her birthday, she'd gained a family, a boyfriend, and a group of real friends. And she'd been responsible for the death of another person, another mutant. Tears threatened to escape from Rogue's shining eyes, now glistening in the moonlight like rare jewels. She couldn't keep living that night over and over again. Rahne had died, it was her fault, and she had to ensure that it would never happen again.  
  
She tried once again to recall what it was that had woken her up, but the details were even foggier now than they were before. Rogue moved to rip her hair out in frustration, and then fell back down on top of her covers with a resigned sigh.  
  
On the other side of the room, Kitty stirred, clearly in the middle of a much more pleasant dream than the one Rogue had experienced.  
  
'Mmmm Lance' was all Rogue could pick out from the mumblings of her sleeping friend, but from the dizzy smile on the girls face, this was a dream she did not want to be disturbed from.  
  
Rogue felt a smile cross her own face. She now shared a room with two of the real friends she had made since she turned sixteen and absolutely everything in her life was turned on it's head. Only a couple of weeks ago, Rogue and her various friends and associates had left behind absolutely everything they had once known, including professor Xavier and the X-men. Rogue didn't have any regrets about leaving, Xavier had been a control freak, he had been the one to cause that awful evening where Rahne was killed, and Rouge never wanted to see him again (she had made this pretty clear when she had left). She did however; miss the other X-men who had stayed at the institute, particularly Bobby. But she convinced herself that things changed, and that maybe Bobby could change his mind and come out to join them in Bedford falls.  
  
The whole reason that they had ended up in Bedford was pretty interesting. After leaving Bayville and the institute, Rogue's initial plan had been to head north, and settle in a nice town somewhere near a city. She had however, made the mistake of giving map reading duties to Todd, and it had been about five hours before any of them had realised they were actually going in completely the wrong direction (Todd was never going to live it down). They had been planning to turn back, when Mystique, the only adult in the bunch, had spotted a sign for Bedford, and had immediately turned that way. It turned out that she knew someone who owned a house at the edge of the town, right near the beach, who could probably let them stay for a while. Unfortunately, when they got there, they discovered that Mystiques 'friend' had died some years ago, and that the house had been abandoned for a while.  
  
Nobody had been interested in the house for years, and once meeting with the towns estate agents and lawyers to prove her connection to the previous owner, she was able to happily inform the teenagers that she had been able to purchase the house 'on the cheap', owing to her being a close friend of the old owner. To this, Pietro had raised his eyebrows indignantly, saying 'you didn't notice they'd died, how close a friend could they have been?'  
  
And so, completely unaware of the intrigue surrounding them, the group had moved into the old mansion. It was almost as bad on the inside as it looked from the outside. Wallpaper was peeling from the cold stone beneath, and very little of the original carpets remained. But it was with grim determination, and incredible enthusiasm, that Mystique launched herself into the restoration of the house, along with the somewhat reluctant mutants. Over the few weeks they'd been there, they'd hardly ventured outside because they'd been so busy. New carpets had been laid down by Fred, Kurt, Lance and Scott had been entrusted to paint the entire house, Todd was entrusted with electrical repairs, being that that was the only class he'd ever paid any attention in back at Bayville, and Pietro was the delivery boy, zipping round the grounds with necessary tools and a sarcastic comment for all the workers.  
  
The girls on the other hand, had decided to take upon themselves the extraordinary task of decorating the house, which consisted of flicking through home decorating magazines, and oohing and ahhing at pictures of furniture and curtain samples. When the things pulled up in the delivery trucks, the girls all screamed with excitement as the somewhat bemused deliverymen unloaded their cargo. When the trucks were safely out of eyesight, Rogue used her powers to lift the various bits and pieces to the desired places in the house, just how they had planned it. However, when the boys finally finished their various jobs, Rogue suddenly 'tired' of using so much energy, and for the next hour or so, the female members of the house watched with amusement as the boys struggled to move heavy loads round and round rooms, with Mystique yelling things like 'No, over there' and 'fool! That's the wrong way round!'  
  
Lance was the first and last to get fed up with the treatment. Standing up for himself and his comrades, he announced 'that's it, we aren't gonna do this any more', with his arms crossed in defiance. Unfortunately, the moment he lifted his arms in rebellion, he sent the sofa he had been holding falling to the floor, and somehow his foot managed to break its fall. It was funny, Tabby remarked later, just how much like a girl Lance Alvers sounded when he was screaming.  
  
But as Rogue looked around the darkened room now, she was forced to admit that the guys had done a good job. The room they slept in was massive, and more than enough to fit three beds. The warm colours surrounding the beds gave the place a cosy, safe feel, and the window that was the rooms focal piece was emphasised dramatically with flowing, velvet red drapes. There were more than enough bedrooms in the house to give everyone their own room, but the three girls had been adamant that they would be sharing. After everything that happened in the past, nobody really wanted to be alone at night anymore. The only person to brave a single room was Mystique of course, who occupied the bedroom that was adjacent to the girls. On the other side was the room housing Kurt and Scott, and opposite were Fred and Todd, with Lance and Pietro down another corridor. Despite both Kitty and Rogue's protests, Mystique would just not risk letting her daughter sleep so close to her boyfriend. Rogue had protested that that Kurt was next door with Tabby in their room, but it was to no avail. Tabby's laughter at this argument had started what was to become the first and biggest pillow fight the girls had ever taken part in.  
  
After all the decorating had been done, they'd only had a couple of days left before they had to start school. Mystique had enrolled them at the local high school sometime during the summer, and had told them all, in no uncertain terms, that they would be attending. Rogue had to admit that letting Mystique take a bigger role in her life was one of the best things she'd ever done. Not only did her mother ensure that all Rogue's problems were not dealt with alone, but she also felt that she was getting closer to Mystique every day. Knowing that she had family on either side of her was a great feeling, but it would have been even greater knowing that Pietro was across the wall.  
  
She was kind of looking forward to tomorrow, which would be her first day at the new school. Rogue still hadn't actually seen it yet, but it didn't really matter. What mattered was that, for the first time, she was going to walk through school doors knowing that she was being completely herself, and not worrying about getting close to anyone, or letting anyone in. she wasn't alone anymore.  
  
Rogue gave another sigh, that was far less frustrated, and sunk into her bed, letting the gentle noise of the breeze outside lull her into a contented sleep. As her eyes drooped shut, and her thoughts drifted away, so did all her thoughts of that disturbing dream.  
  
  
  
'Argh Kurt, that's the fifth time you've done that this summer!', was what Rogue woke up to the next morning. She opened her eyes blearily to see sunlight streaming in through the window, and a very angry Tabby standing sodden in a bathrobe. Rogue smiled sleepily. She could already guess what had happened.  
  
'Kurt' Tabby scolded, doing her best at being very angry, 'will you please stop Bamfing into the bathroom when I am showering. And I know what you're about to say' she said, cutting off the fuzzy blue elf who was about to speak, before continuing, 'but I don't care who you are, once is an accident, but five times is most definitely not.'  
  
Kurt looked down, trying to hide his smile with a pretend frown, 'dammit' he muttered huffily, 'I've still yet to see anything good.' Then, seeming to forget that he could teleport, he ran from the room, with his girlfriend chasing after him.  
  
Rogue laughed at them both, and then threw herself out of bed, digging her feet into the carpet and stretching luxuriously, letting out a big yawn. After washing she went to her wardrobe, and picked out whatever was nearest. She didn't really care how she dressed today. She yanked a brush through her hair, pulling it into some sort of order, before grabbing her bag and heading down to the kitchen for breakfast.  
  
Tabby and Kurt were noticeably missing, but the rest of the house was present, all eating fruit or the fattiest food they could find. Rogue smiled across at Lance, who returned her grin, before she walked up behind the mass of silvery blond hair that was Pietro. She mussed up his hair softly, and before he could react, brought her lips down to his by means of saying good morning. It wasn't like he was complaining about it.  
  
Quicksilver pulled pack, slightly breathless, and Rogue took that opportunity to steal his grapefruit half, running to the other side of the table and high fiving Todd before sitting down. Pietro looked mortified. 'Awww Rogue, I feel so used, and the was the last piece!'  
  
Rogue looked up from her food, and gave him a quick grin. 'Sorry honey, but we'll get you a new grapefruit.'  
  
'Jezebel' Pietro muttered, frowning. Down the table, Rogue stuck her tongue out at him, and then laughed at Fred and Mystique, who was trying desperately to keep up with the boy's demands for pancakes. As it turned out, Fred could eat a lot faster than Mystique could cook. Rogue looked at the plate of food that was about to be guzzled, and stuck out her hand, doubling the amount of pancakes there. Both Mystique and Fred gave her grateful looks. Rogue rose from the table and made to finish getting ready, when Pietro, who had looked like he was deep in thought, stopped her.  
  
'Hey, how come you didn't do that with the grape fruit?' he shouted, moving to follow her as she left the room. On their way out, they bumped into Tabby and Kurt, both with their arms locked firmly around the other. Noting Rogue's raised eyebrows, Tabby smirked at her friend, saying 'we made up.' Before sauntering into the kitchen, Rogue noting that they had their hands in each other's pockets.  
  
Shaking her head, she went upstairs, with Pietro in tow, determined to get his girlfriend to replenish their grapefruit supply.  
  
  
  
It took quite a few minutes to get everyone into the cars. Lance was at the wheel of the jeep, trying to calm down an excited Kitty, who was jumping up and down on the seat in anticipation. 'Ooh, I wonder if like, they'll have the same classes as they had back at Bayville. And what if he people are the same type, and what if the school works differently, and what if..' Lance clamped a hand over her mouth gently, and looked into her eyes with an amused expression. Kitty giggled.  
  
Scott came out the door and threw himself into the back seat, looking slightly nervous and apprehensive. Behind him, Rogue gave his arm a friendly squeeze. She was sort of worried about Scott. He had given up everything to come with them, even though he didn't really fit in. she hoped that would change once they started school. Scott gave her a reassuring look, and she then climbed into the front seat of the other car, driven by Mystique. In the back seat, Pietro was looking particularly sour faced; being stuck next to a gooey eyed Kurt and Tabby. Rogue rolled her eyes, and reached into her bag, handing something to him in the back seat that made Pietro's eyes light up.  
  
'A grapefruit! You do care!' he said in fake voice, wiping an imaginary tear from his eyes. Rogue tried to hit him in the arm, and failed miserably.  
  
The drive to school was pretty uneventful, put as they pulled up to the gates; Rogue was shocked to see that a large crowd of students and teachers had assembled in front of the entrance.  
  
'We can't be that interesting, can we?' Rogue murmured, looking at the assembled party in shock.  
  
'Oh well' Kurt said, shrugging his shoulders, 'might as well get this over with'. He and Tabby opened the door and stepped out the car. Rogue was about to follow suit, when Mystique touched her arm. 'Have a good day dear' she said, a smile playing at her lips.  
  
Rogue nodded, and leaned over to kiss her mother on the cheek, 'see you later mom.' She said, grinning like an idiot as she got out the car and into Pietro's arms. She noticed that the crowd dropped jaws slightly when they looked at her, which made her slightly uncomfortable. But as she passed the crowds, she could see two girls talking about her, baring a startling resemblance to friends of Jean Grey. She caught some of their comments, and stopped still on hearing one of the girls describe her as a 'slut'.  
  
A year ago, a comment like that would have sent Rogue flying home to change, or to the toilet in embarrassment. But she raised her arm in a wave, sent the girl flying to the floor, and reminded herself that this was definitely not last year.  
  
DISCLAIMER: Characters and situation are property of Marvel and WB  
  
AUTHORS NOTE: Yay!! Chapter 2!! Now I've done both perspectives, I can actually get into the story!!! Chapters should be longer than last time, because I have a lot more storylines (I hope). So keep reading, and I hope you enjoy this story as much as you enjoyed the last one! REVIEW!!!!! 


	3. A lot of laughter and getting away with ...

Chapter 3  
  
  
  
The new group of students left a resounding silence in their wake. Wind rustled gently through the spectators who had put so much of their efforts into anticipating this morning. all eyes were fixed on the doors of the school, as if expecting something quite amazing to come bursting through the entrance to the school. Hardly anybody even noticed when Lorna Baker, one of the meanest, yet most popular girls in school, was sent flying into the dirt. Everything took in one deep breath collectively, and then let it all out with a slightly confused shrug of the shoulders, before following the group of new pupils through the doors of the school, trying to pretend that this obsessive, long lasting fascination with a group of new students had never really happened.  
  
Looking up from her new position on the ground, Lorna uttered a few well chosen swear words, before brushing the dust off of her well chosen ensemble, and then following her classmates inside, vowing to make that girls life a complete hell. She just had this weird sort of feeling that that 'stripy' girl had had something to do with her fall. She hated her already. Strutting into the school, she made her way to the bathroom to see if the fall had caused any damage to her make up, intending to ring one of her friends on her cell phone to catch up with them before heading to the gym. It was on her way to the bathroom that she spotted one of the new kids, the one with the brown hair tied up in a ponytail. She didn't have to know the girl to guess that she was excited to be here; if she were any more psyched she'd be bouncing off the walls. But she was alone, without her boyfriend, or her bitchy friend. And it was then that a little idea began to form in Lorna's mind. It was an idea that sent her sauntering over to the new girl with a game show hostess smile on her face, masking the cruel smirk that lay below it.  
  
  
  
Completely oblivious to the reaction they had caused, the new mutants were currently taking in their surroundings. It was funny that no matter which small town you went to, the high schools were all pretty much the same. If someone hadn't told Lance this wasn't Bayville, he'd be convinced that he'd never left the town. Looking out of the window, he could see that an athletics field stretched out below, and a clump of out of place trees crowded one corner of it. He had the funniest sense of déjà vu. Looking around at his friends, he could see that they were pretty much thinking what he was thinking. Lance raised his eyebrows in a despairing way at Rogue, who rolled her eyes right back at him. he failed to see the point of them all going to school. They usually ended up getting into trouble, and it wasn't like any of them had a chance of holding down good, normal jobs in the future. Well, Kitty maybe. Even though he often laughed at her enthusiasm for school, he couldn't help but feel just a little bit proud of her, and just how far she was going to go in the world. There was also Scott, who seemed to have been made for sitting in a classroom and following rules, and Rogue, who could answer any question imaginable without even thinking about it. Though many would find this a fantastic ability to have, Lance thought that it would get a bit boring after a while. There would be no challenges left in life. Looking at the girl he thought of as his little sister, he knew she probably felt exactly the same way as he did.  
  
Kitty, however, was the only one who didn't really seem to notice the similarities. Everywhere she turned she seemed to find something new to squeal about. She'd long since abandoned Lance to go bouncing off round the school, saying something about finding the science labs before skipping off down the corridor. Lance had given up all hope on curbing Kitty's academic enthusiasm a long time ago, and merely thought he'd leave her to calm down a bit. He looked around at the others, who all seemed to be employing the use of the same lost expression. They had no idea whether they were supposed to go straight to their first class, or to a gym for an assembly, or what.  
  
Above them, a bell attached to the wall began to ring loudly, causing several students to put their hands to their ears. After the ringing had done, a flow of students came through the hallway, all-seeming to be headed in one direction. Lance shrugged his shoulders, and began to follow the masses, taking with him the other mutants.  
  
They trooped into a large gym, and climbed into the stands that were positioned at the back of the room. Lance was again amazed at the similarities between this school, and every other school he'd ever been to. He and the others all filed onto one row with almost mechanic movements, looking around to locate Kitty and wave her over to them. They spotted her a few moments later, and their jaws dropped a little in surprise, Rogue's in particular.  
  
Kitty was waving frantically to them from another stand, and was sitting herself next to the bitch of a girl who had insulted the girls this morning. Rogue raised her eyebrows at Kitty, who didn't seem to notice, and plopped herself down happily next to the girl, who gave Rogue a nasty sort of smile. Rogue had no idea what this girl was playing at, or what she was trying to achieve by befriending Kitty, but Rogue had a very nasty feeling that it had nothing to do with true friendship, and she worried about what her friend was going to be letting herself in for.  
  
She leant across Scott to speak to Lance, whispering to him 'what the hell is Kitty doing with her?' Lance looked at her, a bemused expression on his face, and gave her a blank look, shaking his head. He knew better than any that the inner workings of his girlfriends mind were better left untouched.  
  
Rogue resolved to talk to her friend later. She would have thought that Kitty would have been more wary of girls like that, after the experience that she'd had in her first school. Rogue had heard all about those girls, (Riley was it?) who had tortured Kitty mercilessly right before her powers had started to show. By the look on Lances face, he had knowledge about that too. And by the smile she had given Rouge, this girl was just the same.  
  
The buzzing of chatter around the hall was brought to a stop, as the principal stepped out onto a makeshift podium in front of the stands. The head of the school was a woman, though she didn't look a thing like Mystique had done. She was small, roundish, and had a plump, kindly quality about her. Round glasses had slipped to the end of her nose, and light blue eyes twinkled from behind them. She certainly seemed more normal than their first Bayville principal, and saner than their second. Though maybe that wouldn't last, Rogue thought, looking down the line at her brother and his girlfriend, who at the moment looked as though they were in the midst of plotting bad things for the poor woman. Rogue almost felt sorry for her, but on the other hand, she had to admit that it was good to see the two of them smiling again, Tabby in particular. The girl had been so upset about Rahne; Kurt had confided to Rogue that she'd almost run away. Rogue kicked herself inwardly, now was not the time to be thinking about all that. She squeezed Pietro's hand next to her, and he gave her a comforting smile, as if he knew exactly what she'd been thinking, which made Rogue think again just how lucky she was to have him there with her, to have somebody who loved her that much, and who she loved in return. She gripped his hand a little harder, as though determined that she was never going to let it go.  
  
'Welcome, everyone, both new faces and old, to a new year at Bedford High!' said the woman at the front, beaming around at her students, who stamped their feet in response. Rogue joined in, feeling that you just couldn't help but share some of the woman's overwhelming enthusiasm. She was like an older, slightly plumper version of Kitty, who gave you the impression that, under any circumstances she would be happy to hear both sides of an argument before passing judgement. Which, she decided, was probably going to be good for her and her friends.  
  
Mrs. Bennett held up her small hand, and again the students were quiet, waiting for more. 'For those of you who don't know, I'm principal Bennet, or Mrs. Bennet out of hours!' there was more cheering, and Principal Bennett's smile seemed to grow even wider, if that were possible. She launched into her 'new year' speech, and Rogue, having heard all she really needed to know, let her mind wander off again. A few minutes later, Scott nudged her in the shoulder, and she started, looking around to see that every pair of eyes in the hall were now directed at them. Even though there was no sudden spotlight placed over them, Rogue almost narrowed her eyes from the imaginary glare. She felt so uncomfortable, being stared at.  
  
'……….So everyone, lets welcome our new classmates!' Principal Bennet finished, throwing her hands together jubilantly, as the students all droned out the word 'welcome'. Rogue could feel a little bit of a blush creeping into the sides of her face, and could almost feel the heat coming off Scott. This was definitely different to Bayville; it felt like being back in Kindergarten or something.  
  
The principal then motioned that it was time for the students to be heading off to their first classes. Once filing out of the gym, the group immediately split up, owing to the fact that they were nearly all in different classes. Rogue and Pietro headed off to their first class, world history, waving goodbye to the others. In truth, the two of them hadn't really put much thought into deciding what classes to take, they'd only been concerned with taking their classes together. Rogue, being who she was, could ace pretty much any class in the school, much to her discomfort. She had therefore signed them both up for a cookery class, despite Pietro's protests that he already had the best teacher in her. Rogue had smiled at his comment, thanked him for his abysmal attempt to flatter her into changing her mind, then told him that he was taking the class, like it or not.  
  
The two of them wound their way through the corridors hand in hand, finally stopping at a door labelled 'world history'. They opened the door cautiously, before making their way inside, hoping desperately that they hadn't turned up at the class late. Luckily for them both, the room was fairly empty; evidently the students here took their time in heading to lessons. The two mutants threw themselves into seats next to each other, shrugging off the curious looks that those already present in the class were throwing them. Soon, the room began to fill with teenagers, each looking at the new additions to the class (whilst trying to pretend not to notice at all), before taking their seats. Rogue noticed that the girl she had tripped up was in her class, the one who Kitty had been sitting with back in the gym. Even if she hadn't seen her, she would have felt the heat of the girls glare on her back. Rogue sighed to herself, she did not need to make enemies on her first day at school, but hey, if that girl was going to start things, she wasn't going to lie down and take it.  
  
The teacher walking into the class saved Rogue from any actually conversation with the girl, who looked ready to start a catfight even without having talked to her. He was tall, thin, and going grey, but his face showed a weary sort of youth that seemed to Rogue as if it belonged in a painting. It was like the man had been young only a very short time ago, and something had almost knocked the child out of him.  
  
The guy beginning to speak stirred her from her musings. He cleared his throat softly, signalling for silence, and then rolled a battered old map of the world down in front of the board. He pointed haphazardly at the countries, and then stopped his finger, not even noticing the new students in his class. He began speaking, not expecting to ask questions, or for interruptions to be made.  
  
'Greece. One of the most fascinating civilizations of the ancient world, giving us some of the world's greatest ever thinkers.' He stopped, and looked around, trying to work out by his students blank faces just how much he would actually have to teach them in this area of work. Judging by the way his face fell, it seemed to be a lot. Looking around, students were twiddling their thumbs with great concentration, scribbling down things that had nothing to do with history, and looking out the window, trying to imagine themselves out of the class. Rogue felt kind of sorry for the guy, so she put a hand to the pendant hanging round her neck, and felt herself pushing out a little with her mind, feeling knowledge on the Greeks pushing its way to the surface. The teacher was right, it was sort of interesting.  
  
Across from her, Pietro gave her a fake disapproving look. He leaned over when the teacher wasn't looking with one eyebrow arched perfectly, whispering 'Hey, no cheating.' Rogue gave him a guilty sort of grin, before looking down at her desk, a small smile playing on her lips, ruining the innocent look she had been trying to achieve.  
  
Out of nowhere, she felt something hit her on the back, and looked down on the floor to see a large piece of something like an eraser hit the surface, stopping immediately. She turned round slowly, to see the girl from the entrance to the school returning her sarcastic little wave. Pietro saw this happening, and looked like he was going to do something about it, but Rogue held up a hand to stop him. She picked up the eraser casually, and raised it in her hand, waiting for the teacher to again look the other way. He went bumbling off to a small ledge in the corner of the room, crammed with books, and started to prise one from the crowded shelf. Rogue raised her hand, and then threw the item over her shoulder, knowing exactly where it was headed. And sure enough…  
  
'Ow, my eye!' came the screeching moan from the back of the classroom. The teacher wheeled around at once, to see one of his students clutching her eye in supposed agony, though he suspected that she was probably trying to prevent people from seeing her running mascara.  
  
'Now now, Lorna, what happened?' he asked lazily. The girl stood up dramatically, using her free hand to toss her hair indignantly. The class was now watching the scene with ill concealed interest.  
  
'She, she threw this at my eye!' Lorna cried, pointing an accusing, well polished finger in Rogue's direction, the eraser lying on her desk like a piece of courtroom evidence. The latter widened her eyes innocently.  
  
'It was an accident professor. I wasn't looking where I was throwing it, I was merely giving Lorna her eraser back.' Pietro laughed, Rogue was practically batting her eyelashes at the poor guy.  
  
The teacher nodded quickly, and Pietro suspected that Rouge might have used her powers to play a little bit of a hand in his decision. 'Very well, Lorna, go to the nurse. I'm sure all this was just an accident.'  
  
The girl opened and closed her mouth several times, then threw her things into her bag, and storming from the room, forgetting to keep her hand on her 'injured' eye.  
  
The bell rang sometime later, and students poured from the classroom, looking at Rogue with a certain amount of awe. Nobody, ever stood up to Lorna Baker, let lone got away with it.  
  
'You know' Pietro said, as he slung an arm around his girlfriend. 'I think we might have had a bad influence on you.'  
  
  
  
The group met for lunch that day, with the exception of Lance and Kitty. Lorna had apparently escaped from the nurse by then, and Kitty had dragged a reluctant Lance away with her to meet her new friends. Rogue sighed to herself at seeing how happy the other girl was. She couldn't help but think that Lorna and her friends were setting Kitty up for a very big fall. She'd just have to wait for that night before she told Kitty about this.  
  
Scott soon joined Pietro and Rogue, trying his best to saunter over to the two of them as though he were completely fine with seeing them together. Rogue could remember all those months ago, when Scott had told her that he loved her, and she had told him he was wrong. Her heart went out for her friend, but she was still convinced that she had been right.  
  
Pietro had the tact to move a little bit away from Rogue as the other boy approached. Rogue was proud of them both. They'd managed to get around their differences, even though they had had so many, and they'd managed to form an easy companionship that meant Rogue wasn't worried about them ripping each other's eyes out when her back was turned.  
  
Scott lifted up his hand by means of saying 'hi', and Pietro and Rogue made space for him at the table. They would've started up a conversation, but they were interrupted by someone screaming 'freak' on the other side of the cafeteria. Heads immediately turned in the direction of the voice, and Rogue wasn't really surprised to see that Todd was at the centre of attention. Clearly, he'd done something, or shown some of his powers, but whatever it was, there was a rather nasty crowd around him. Some girl was holding onto the arm of a football player or a wrestler or whatever, and it was probably her that had screamed. The meathead and his friends were beginning to look a bit menacing, and Todd had the expression of a deer caught in headlights. The three at the table got up from where they were eating, and waded into the fray. Pietro stepped in front of Todd, rolling his eyes at his friend, while Scott made to approach the would be attackers. Rogue put a hand on his arm.  
  
'Let me do the talking,' she murmured softly. Scott nodded; remembering that the last time he'd stuck up for Todd had ended up with a guy in hospital.  
  
Rogue approached the jock with a pleasant smile on her face. 'Whatever my friend's done to upset you, I'm sure it's just a misunderstanding.' She said this, while twirling a strand of white hair in her fingers, jutting her hip just a little to one side. Scott bit back a gurgle of laughter. Unfortunately, the guy was letting his girlfriend do the talking.  
  
'That weirdo tried to come on to me!' she said, as if the thought alone still disgusted her. Her voice seemed to stir the guy from his stupor.  
  
'Yeah' he said, injecting testosterone into his words. 'That's what he did.' Rogue cringed; it was going to take a lot to get her friend out of this one.  
  
Scott couldn't stay quiet anymore; he stood at Rogue's side, despite her frantic gestures for him not to get too involved.  
  
'He didn't know she had a boyfriend, it was just a mistake!' he said, looking from the girl to her boyfriend, both angry and sensible at the same time. If there weren't so many people around her, Rogue would've put her head in her hands.  
  
'Who the hell are you?' the jock demanded. His friends, sensing a new target, began to leave Todd and Pietro, circling around the other two mutants. Just as Rouge was beginning to think that some use of powers was in order, the ground next to them began to shake a little, and the group of 'sportsmen' found themselves looking up into the face of a very peeved off Fred.  
  
'Any problem you have with my friends, you have with me. Have you got a problem with me?' He said, sounding more confident than Rouge had ever heard him before. The guys all shook their heads a little.  
  
'Go then' Fred said, grinning at them. Within about ten seconds, there were no longer any jocks in the cafeteria. Kitty and Lance looked up from the table where they were eating. Lance looked glad for the distraction, and gave an impressed nod in Fred's direction, whereas Kitty turned back round and began to talk excitedly with her 'new friends'.  
  
The group stood there for a few moments, then headed back to the table, with Pietro slapping Fred on the back. 'Wow, didn't know you had it in you Fred' he said, not even bothering to hide how surprised he was. Usually, Fred had no clue as to how to use his strength to help in situations like that. Scott remembered when he had accidentally started the largest food fight in Bayville's history.  
  
Todd nodded his thanks in the direction of his best friend, and Rogue and Scott congratulating them. In contrast to his earlier self, Fred now looked a little embarrassed at the attention and praise his friends were giving him. It was then that Rogue realised Fred didn't often receive praise and attention, and decided that that should probably change in the future.  
  
Todd on the other hand, looked a little bit depressed. That was just another time that he'd had to be helped out by his friends. Rogue knew all about how frustrating your powers could be, but the feeling of uselessness that she felt radiating from Todd was unlike any she'd felt before. Patting his back gently, she spoke to him. 'Todd, we know it wasn't your fault, and hey, we just wanted to stop the fight before you creamed those guys.' Even as she spoke, she heard how fake those words sounded.  
  
'I could do it you know' he said, more to himself than to her. 'I could do it if I tried.'  
  
'I know you could' Rouge replied gently, though she doubted if he'd even heard what it was she'd said.  
  
When they reached their table again, Kurt and Tabby were waiting for them, big grins on their faces. 'We were going to get up and help' Kurt explained, 'but we thought Fred was doing pretty well on his own.'  
  
Fred sat down, his ears now bright red, and Rouge was sad to notice that Todd had plonked himself down on the opposite end of the table. She looked to Pietro, and he shrugged, unsure of what to do. Rogue noticed that Tabby and Kurt were still grinning like idiots, and decided to change the topic of conversation.  
  
'What the hell are you to up to?' she said, trying to give her brother a stern look and failing miserably.  
  
Tabby and Kurt leaned in with a conspirator's glance at each other, and the table waited eagerly to hear whatever idea they had had.  
  
Tabby took a deep breath, and opened her mouth. 'You'll just have to wait and see.' She said, winking at them all, then laughing as the table lapsed into exasperated groans.  
  
  
  
Scott was in a slightly odd mood, he decided as he walked into his French class that afternoon. He felt kind of removed from everyone, even from his friends. He knew that Rogue was worried about him, that her and Pietro were making an effort not to appear too close when he was around, but he guessed it just wasn't enough to stop hurting. Whether or not he was really in love with Rogue didn't matter, what mattered was that he was still hurting, even after all this time, and there was nobody he could talk to about it. His best friend here was probably Rogue, and she was part of the thing he needed to talk about, so that ruled that out. And he felt uncomfortable talking to Kurt about it, because he was her brother. So, he would just have to live with the hurt, and get over it, all the while trying to find a place where he could truly feel comfortable. He knew he didn't belong back at the institute, he thought he might not belong here, and he knew these sorts of thoughts were not appropriate in a French class. He woke himself up a bit, and looked around in surprise to see that the class was suddenly full, and the teacher was ready to begin.  
  
'Now we shall begin,' she said, in one of the phoniest French accents he'd ever heard, even Kurt's attempts were better. 'We shall turn our pages to twenty one, and we shall refresh our knowledge of verbs.' She clapped her hands together, and the class groaned. Scott realised he had no textbook, and no knowledge of French verbs still in his head.  
  
He was saved from having to talk to the woman, by the girl who was sitting next to him. She moved her desk slightly, so she could place her book between them. Scott looked across at her in gratitude, and found himself lost in doe brown eyes, looking at him innocently under thick lashes.  
  
'Thanks' he said, not knowing what else to say. The girl smiled at him, and it spread all over her face, lighting up her amazing eyes. Scott suddenly became aware of the sun striking rich on the golden strands in her otherwise tawny hair.  
  
The teacher only just seemed to notice him. 'Oh my my! We have a new student among us. Please, monsieur, introduce yourself!'  
  
Scott stood awkwardly; painfully aware of the attention he was now getting from the other students. 'Erm, I'm' he began, but he didn't get a chance to finish.  
  
The teacher let out a squeal of indignation. 'Non, en Français!' she boomed out, making the poor boy flinch slightly.  
  
'Oh,' he said, now bright red. 'Je m'appelle Scott Summers'. He sat down as quickly as possible, wanting to bury his head behind a book. He'd never been this shy back in Bayville, but then he'd never been embarrassed in front of a group of strangers there either.  
  
The girl who had shared her book with him watched him and then giggled a little. 'Je m'appelle Lydia' she said, her face reflected in his glinting red shades. Scott smiled back at her, forgetting what had just happened, and remembering that he only 'thought' he didn't belong here.  
  
He was about to start up a conversation with her, when a voice came booming over the speaker system.  
  
'Will Kurt Wagner and Tabitha Smith please go to the Principal's office immediately!'  
  
  
  
Kurt and tabby stood next to each other, facing the Principal, who was sitting at her desk and looking both disappointed and concerned in a parental sort of way. Both students had their heads bowed, which she assumed meant they were ashamed. Had she looked closer, she would have discovered that both of them were trying not to giggle too loudly.  
  
'I understand' Mrs. Bennet said, looking down and raising her eyebrows at their rather, colourful personal records, 'that the two of you enjoy joking around, and hey, I love a good prank as much as the net person.' She let her face become serious, 'but I feel that unleashing the science labs frogs into the school swimming pool is taking things a bit to far.'  
  
Tabitha raised her head a bit, nodding her head, her eyes bulging with repressed laughter. 'I agree Miss, and of course we didn't think of the, erm, chaos it would cause.' Kurt snorted at her side, and Tabby nudged him in the ribs. Mrs. Bennet eyed them both rather suspiciously.  
  
'Well, I think that, being as it is your first day, we'll let it go this one time. I do however, fully expect you to apologise to the girls that were in the water, once they get out of the psychiatrists office.'  
  
They nodded, and after a nod of the Principals head, let themselves out the door. Once along, Mrs. Bennet looked over the personal records one more time, and came to the part about the academic tournament.  
  
'Oh my.' She said.  
  
  
  
Rouge and Pietro were waiting for them outside the office, and the four of them waited until they'd made it outside before bursting into wild fits of laughter. Rogue and Pietro had been fortunate enough to have sports that afternoon, which had given them a perfect view of the uproar their friends had created. Pietro had to shake his head in disbelief a little bit; this had been their first day at a new school. Even he wouldn't have been that daring. And they'd gotten away with it! He couldn't help but think that they had definitely caused a stir today at school, though perhaps they'd made more friends than enemies.  
  
He saw Scott Summers approaching the two of them, with a pretty, brown haired girl at his side, talking animatedly. Hmmmm, he thought again, perhaps not.  
  
'Hey guys' Scott said, a genuine smile on his face for the first time in weeks. 'This is Lydia Willis'. He motioned for the girl to meet his friends, and she came forward somewhat nervously to greet the new arrivals to the school.  
  
'Hey,' she said shyly, 'I was going to say I'm Lydia, but I guess that would sound kind of stupid now.'  
  
They all laughed, and rogue took the opportunity to look at Scott, who was probably happier than she'd seen him in a long time. She looked inside herself, and tried to see if there was any part of her that was jealous that she hadn't been able to make him this happy. A slight wave of relief rippled across her face when she realised that she only felt happiness for her friend, and hope that he would now be happier with where he was.  
  
Pietro looked at the two of them very happily, and Rogue rolled her eyes a little. Even after all that had happened, even though they were now quite good friends, her boyfriend still sometimes saw Scott as a threat. Even if Rogue wasn't telepathic, the look of pleasure on Pietro's face was like an open book.  
  
He saw her looking at him, and rearranged his features into an expression of polite casualness. 'What?' he said innocently.  
  
Rogue batted him on the arm, and laughed at the confused looks that had appeared on the others faces.  
  
'I hope you know what you're letting yourself in for Lydia!' she said, and this time, they all got her meaning.  
  
  
  
Soon after, the final bell rang to signal that the first day of a new school year at Bedford High had come to an end. People piled out of the doors, and out the school gates where they had stood in anticipation that morning. The people were still talking, and the subject was still that of the new students. Only this time, there was no speculation involved, only discussion of the many events, which had occurred during the school day. The new arrivals had indeed lived up to the hype that had surrounded them, and several of the people leaving the school that night had opinions formed in their minds.  
  
Lorna Baker left the school with a thunderous expression on her face, and a storm building in her eyes. It was now clear to her, that girl had caused her to fall over that morning. She didn't know how she did it, but it must have been her. And then she threw that rubber at her eye. Again, that was no accident. But she was definitely going to get her back. Already, she'd befriended the valley wannabe, who had told her she was 'Rogue's' best friend. Now she just had to sit back, and wait for a rift to come between the two girls. Then she could really have some fun.  
  
Lydia Willis walked out the gates with her books clutched close to her, and her eyes focused on some distant point that only she could see. She wanted to know more about Scott Summers. The guy was a complete mystery, and just too cute. And his friends seemed nice. A little eccentric yes, but still nice. She, like everyone else in the town, wanted to know more about the new occupants of the house, but perhaps for slightly different reasons.  
  
The subjects of all this attention gathered together by the car, all full to the brim with first day stories and impressions. They tumbled into one car, and some remained, climbing into the other car that had pulled up beside them, with a dark haired, bespeccled woman at the wheel. The cars pulled away from the gates, leaving behind them a sea of controversy.  
  
  
  
There was a desert, a vast desert all around him. Hot dry air blew round with the ferocity of a hurricane, whipping the sand that coated the ground into a frenzy. It didn't bother him at all. He was immune to such petty things. But even in the torrent of sand, in the heat, and the dryness, he could taste it. Human life. Disgusting, dirty human life. He waded through the tides of dust and swirls of sands, following the smell that assaulted his senses. After a few hours of searching blindly in the desert, ignoring the heat and the vastness, the thing that he had been hunting for finally shimmered into view on the horizon. A grim expression of satisfaction fell upon his twisted features like a gruesome mask, and he trudged through the sands with new resolve.  
  
The inhabitants of the village had long since adapted to life in the deserts. Water was treated like precious jewels, and food was carefully harvested and stored. But the people were happy, they had never known any other way of life, and they enjoyed living it. The children ran in the hot sands, wearing leather sandals thin. The women spun exotic fabrics, and the community was lusher than the landscape could possibly have been.  
  
The children had, early that day, decided to play explorers. The morning was the best time to explore, for the sun had not fully begun to beat down on them, and showed mercy to their easily damaged skin. Dressed in spotless white, brushing over their skin and billowing in the dusty breeze, they poked their way over dunes, sticking their wooden sticks in the ground to check for the depth of the sand. And in the distance, they spied something unusual. Something that they'd never seen before. It was like a giant that they'd heard about in stories before bedtime, like the character that had followed them into their nightmares after a particularly scary story time. But they couldn't really see what it was; it was shielded by the winds. Some of the move intrepid children stayed to watch in wonder; others ran back to the village, seeking those they found after being troubled by those nightmares. Either way, they never stood a chance.  
  
Apocalypse saw them scuttling around in the sand as clear as day. They were like ants, some too stupid to take action, others scampering back to the hole. He knew that, in purging the world of human filth, he was going to need more on his side, but he felt confident that he could successfully deal with one village. He would start with the children, he thought to himself, raising his gigantic arm above his head. Let the adults come and try to save them.  
  
The older inhabitants of the village were alarmed when a small group of children came staggering into the centre of the settlement, with wild claims of a giant man moving towards them. One woman put their behaviour down to extreme heatstroke, and shouted to her companions to take them to the shade and fetch the water. That was when they heard the screams, so small and hopeless they were almost carried away completely by the wind. Eyes in the village met each other in terrified glances, and feet seemed to work independently of the mind, dragging those above them to the scene of the screaming.  
  
'And so they come' Apocalypse murmured, fully aware of the chaos in the houses before him. 'The lambs to the slaughter.'  
  
  
  
After climbing out the cars, everyone seemed to break off. Todd muttered something about sitting somewhere, and took off in a random direction. Fred seemed to be slightly troubled by this, but tried to shrug it off, going into the kitchen for a ritual snack.  
  
Pietro gave Rouge a quick kiss, whilst saying quietly to her that he was going to rescue Lance from Kitty's continued ramblings about Lorna and Co. the other boy gave him a grateful glance, and the two of the left a little quicker than they would have done in normal circumstances.  
  
Once they were out of sight, Pietro looked at his friend with an expression of utmost sympathy. 'That bad huh?'  
  
Lance looked desperate. 'They don't have one intelligent thing to say, not one! It would help if they were nice, but they're not. They're complete bitches. And Kitty likes them!' he looked slightly hysterical. Pietro couldn't really blame him. He didn't know Kitty Pryde as well as most the people in the house, but he knew that when she wanted something, or when she liked something, she was not going to be pleased with people who stopped her. Now she'd decided that she liked those bimbos, Pietro wouldn't be surprised if she had Lance round at their houses watching movies and painting nails. The thought did cause him to laugh a little bit. Avalanche could never refuse a request from Kitty.  
  
The brown haired rebel took a look at Pietro's face. 'This is in no way funny!' he said, causing Pietro's gurgle to become a full blown laughing fit.  
  
  
  
Scott followed the boys into the house with a wave in the general direction of the others. Rogue and Kitty saw Kurt and Tabby unpacking their school bags at the front porch, and were shocked to see them pull beach towels, swim things, and an inflatable ball from their bag, before throwing them down on the seat by the door, now completely empty.  
  
'School is just a place you go to pass the time for you isn't it?' Rouge asked, an incredulous look on her face.  
  
Kurt shrugged, grinning, then followed Tabitha, who had already begun to make her way down to the sands, kicking her shoes off mid stride and stepping into flip flops.  
  
This left the two girls alone. Mystique had been first to go inside, saying first that she wanted to hear about their first day at dinner. Rogue took one glance at Kitty and knew she was about to go into a rant, and chose that time to say what she'd been wanting to say all day.  
  
'Look Kitty, I'm really glad that you've found friends so quick, but I just thought I'd warn you, be on your guard. I'm not saying that they're making you look like a fool, because they're not. I'm just saying, I guess I'm just saying to be careful. Those sort of girls will hurt someone who's supposedly a friend without giving it a second thought, and I don't want to see you hurt.'  
  
Kitty was stunned into silence for a few moments, as though someone had just swung a blow at her. 'I thought you'd be happy for me,' she stammered, 'I thought you'd be pleased.'  
  
'I am' Rogue said quickly, rushing to reassure her. 'I'm just saying you should be on your guard, don't get too involved with that crowd.'  
  
'Are you saying I shouldn't be friends with them?' Kitty said, stricken.  
  
'No! I just don't want you to get hurt by them, I mean I've had a couple of run ins with that Lorna girl already..'  
  
'You can't judge her like that! You, you haven't even given her a chance!' Kitty said, looking like a child who'd been told Santa Claus isn't real.  
  
'I know that she must be exactly like those girls from your first school..' Rogue said, trying to relate it to her.  
  
'I know! She is exactly like those girls. And she wants to be my friend. Do you even know what that means to me? After what happened, all I wanted was to be accepted by people like that, to be told by them that I'm not a freak! And now it's happened, and I thought you'd be happy, but you're not.' She paused, thinking whether or not to say what she wanted to say next, as though she'd just come to a conclusion so astounding she had to wait a moment to consider whether or not it was actually true. 'You're just jealous. You're jealous because they haven't accepted you like they have with me!'  
  
Kitty took deep breaths, seemingly shocked that she'd said it. It hung in the air between them, and froze Rogue's face until it became as cold as ice.  
  
'I don't need to be accepted by them. I have my own friends, just like you do.' She said, her breath tearing out in rags.  
  
'At least I thought I did.' Kitty retorted, before sweeping past her and into the house, the door making a satisfying bang behind her.  
  
Rogue suddenly felt very lonely in the garden. She had thought she could talk to Kitty about this easily, that the two of them could have gone on to plot about evil things to do to Lorna and her gang. But she'd been completely stupid. She hadn't counted on the fact that Kitty had actually wanted to be their friend, that it meant something to her, going around with those overgrown Barbies. Now she wasn't talking to her.  
  
And she'd accused her of being jealous. Rogue sat down on a porch step. Was she really jealous? Had she secretly wanted to be part of that elite group? She supposed she kind of did back at Bayville, when Jean Grey had ruled the school. But then she'd turned sixteen, and everything had changed, and she'd hated being one of them. No, she decided, she was not jealous. Kitty was just angry, and scared that Rogue was right. And soon she'd calm down, and everything would be all right again. Rogue wandered inside the house, feeling a lot lower than she had done before.  
  
  
  
Rogue wasn't the only person alone at that moment in time. Todd had also wandered off to lose himself in his own thoughts. He was so busy thinking, he never even noticed Fred sneaking up behind him, which was a pretty amazing thing to happen. He did notice however, when his best friend came and stood right in front of him.  
  
'Hey' Todd said, without even looking up. Fred responded, then shuffled his gigantic feet on the floor, knowing exactly what was up with the much smaller boy.  
  
'I'm sorry for helping out this lunch time.' he said remorsefully, not even caring how strange his apology sounded.  
  
Todd looked for a moment as if he were about to laugh out loud at the absurdity of what Fred had just said to him, but instead he shook his head.  
  
'Nah, it's ok, you were only looking out for me.' He said, trying and failing to reassure the other boy with a smile. He settled for looking out at the scenery before him. The sky, the sea, the hills, the houses.  
  
'It's just..' he started, not quite sure of what to say really. 'I'm not useless.' He said desperately, like he didn't quite believe the words.  
  
'Of course you're not.' Fred said, without a clue as to what the magic words were, the thing to say that would make his friend feel instantly better.  
  
'Then why do I feel like it?' he asked, not sure as to whether or not he actually expected an answer. 'Why do I feel like every day I make less and less of a difference.'  
  
He cleared his throat; trying his best to subdue unshed tears that were firmly lodged within him. He wanted to watch the landscape again, to lose himself in the world around him. But it only served in making himself feel more insignificant than he already did. The tears felt very close now.  
  
'You're not useless.' Fred said gruffly. 'You know it, we all know it, and someday the whole world is going to know it. Your day is going to come.' He wanted to reach out and pat the boy on his back, but he already looked like he was going to cry, he didn't want to send him over the edge.  
  
When Todd looked up, there were no longer leaky tears in his eyes, a steely sort of determination had hardened them into glinting chips. In truth, he had never expected words of that depth to come out of his friend's mouth. Then again, he'd been surprised as well by Fred's actions at lunchtime. He'd been completely confident and composed ever since they'd arrived in Bayville. It was then Todd realised that perhaps that was why the change had occurred in his friend. He hadn't just left his old home behind; he'd left his old self behind. He was no longer the awkward, bumbling boy that lashed out with violence to make up for his own awful insecurities; he was no longer searching for a friend to tell they cared. He'd found his friends, and his stability, and he'd changed for the better because of it. He wanted to do what his best friend had done, what his best friend believed he too could do. He was going to make a difference.  
  
Fred nodded at him, and made a move to take the walk back to the house together. Little and large, silhouetted in the setting sun, casting shadows on the grass.  
  
'Thanks, by the way,' Todd said conversationally. 'You didn't have to stick up for me then.'  
  
'No problem.' He responded easily. 'So it was all over a girl then. Was she worth the trouble?'  
  
'She was hot.' Todd said simply.  
  
Fred laughed. 'Enough said.'  
  
  
  
Mystique almost dropped the plates in shock when the teenagers came in for dinner that evening. She'd never seen such a drastic change in people's moods before. Scott came breezing in first, a smile on his face. What was wrong with the boy? She thought to herself. He hardly ever smiled. Kurt and Tabby followed him in. They at least hadn't changed a bit, though the size of their smiles worried her slightly. Just what had they been up to that evening?  
  
Lance and Pietro were next, lance staring daggers at Pietro, who was caught between fits of sympathy and giggling. Their respective girlfriends came soon after, throwing daggers at each other before throwing themselves down into seats as far away as possible from each other. Mystique looked at her daughter with concern, as Fred and Todd walked into the room. Firstly, Fred walking and not running into a room where food was being served was a rare occasion. But both boys also had pensive, thoughtful looks on their faces, an alien expression to both of them.  
  
Mystique served them their pizza and fries with caution, aware of the presence of so many moody teens in one room. She sat down to silence, as everyone began eating.  
  
'So' she said, deciding to risk it. 'How was your day?' she regretted it almost instantly. Forks fell to plates with a clatter, and every single face looked at her in irritated amazement. Finally, Rogue said the only word Mystique would hear on the subject.  
  
'Fine', she said, before continuing to eat, not before throwing a glance in Kitty's direction, who glared right back. Mystique went back to her food, glad in a way that at least she hadn't been attacked. This was going to be a very quiet meal.  
  
  
  
It was later that night, and the mood in the house had only slightly improved. They were all sat in the living room, all-trying to keep up some pretence of normalcy. When the phone range, there was rush to answer it, because the room was full of people who wanted out of it. Even the cartoon on the telly couldn't completely lighten the mood.  
  
Pietro, being who he was, was first to make it to the receiver. He hoisted it from the hook, and then put it down in disappointment. 'Rogue, it's someone for you, not sure who.'  
  
Rogue stepped forward, taking the phone from Pietro and motioning for him to leave. He made a pleading gesture, desperate to stay with her, but she kicked him softly in the shin and he got the message, leaving the room with a pout on his face.  
  
Rogue pressed the receiver to her ear, saying 'Hello, who is this.'  
  
She never got a name; the voice on the other end was raspy, low, and most likely disguised. 'It has begun.' Came the reply, and Rogue tried very hard not to jump.  
  
'I'm sorry; I don't know what you're talking about. You must have the wrong number.' She said, sounding all the same a little freaked out.  
  
'If don't know now, you soon will. You are the one, and you will soon know.'  
  
'I'm sorry, I have to go.' Rogue said, wanting nothing more to put down the phone. Her body however, would not respond to her wishes.  
  
'You will listen to me. The time has come again, and he is raised. You will have to make your choice, and everything will depend on it. This I have seen, what the choice is I do not know yet. You must believe, or everything will be lost, because it has begun. We will talk again.'  
  
'What has begun? I don't understand!' Rogue said, but she never got an answer. Almost immediately after their little speech had finished, rogue had heard a click that meant the person, whoever they were, had hung up.  
  
She gripped the table, unaware of just how quickly she'd actually been breathing. She wanted to move, to go through and tell the others about the strange, clearly hoax call she'd just receive, but another part of her, something almost primal inside of her, had convinced her to keep quiet about it all.  
  
She found her feet again, and paced for a moment or two, gathering her nerves again, before joining the others back in the living room. Pietro beckoned for her to sit down next to him, and she complied, leaning into his arms. He planted a kiss on her forehead, and whispered to her. 'You look upset, was it bad news?'  
  
She shook her head softly, and replied 'no, just one of those bitches from school, Kitty must have given her my number.' She knew her lie sounded false, and that Pietro had probably picked up on it, but he said nothing. He stroked her hair, and she closed her eyes. It was hard to feel scared anymore, when she felt so cosy and warm. On the other side of the room, Lance glanced at her face, she could feel his eyes on her, and knew the he too suspected something was up. How many other people had worked out that something was wrong.  
  
She didn't get the opportunity to pursue this, because the cartoon they had been watching on the telly was turned off by Mystique, joining them after fetching coffee, who flipped the channel to news. There was a reporter on the screen in what looked like a desert, with a very sombre, disturbed look on her face.  
  
'We bring you breaking news from Egypt, of a massacre occurring miles out into the desert. An entire village has been slaughtered, and two hundred people have been killed. A group of tourists discovered the scene of the murders whilst out on a camel ride today, when they came across the bodies of five children being buried in the sand. A few moments away, the bulk of the villagers were found, having been butchered several moments after the children had been killed. The village itself had been burned to the ground, and those who had remained in the houses had perished in the fire. Local reports suggest that all inhabitants are dead, save one, who is reported missing. A local woman has yet to be found. Police are baffled by this seemingly motiveless crime, and the ferocity of the massacre had astounded the whole country. For who has the strength and mind to kill five children, and slaughter their families?'  
  
The room was completely stunned. Nothing like this had ever happened, nothing so random, so completely pointless. Everyone forgot about their day, as they let their minds fly across the seas to Egypt, where two hundred people had been brutally slaughtered for no apparent reason.  
  
The reporter had moved on now, to talk to one of the traumatised tourists who had found the bodies. And Rogue found herself looking at the screen in agonised horror, the shock of that phone call still weighing heavy on her mind, which was starting to run away with her. She tried to convince herself that surely it must have been a coincidence. The call and the murders were not connected, they'd just happened to occur round the same time. Yet at the back of her mind, the words of the anonymous caller rang clear in Rogue's head.  
  
It has begun.  
  
  
  
DISCLAIMER: Characters you know about are property of Marvel and WB  
  
AUTHORS NOTE: Hoorah, hopefully the first of many long chapters! This does mean that chapters should take longer to write, but it also means I can put more aspects into the story, which is hopefully a good thing! Hope you like this, next chapter, we shall see whether Rogue and Kitty make up, whether Lance finally snaps, and whether the caller makes another appearance. Thank you to everyone for reviewing, long may it continue!!! 


	4. A lie, and a lot of drinking

Chapter 4  
  
It wasn't really what you would call a quiet evening in the house that night. After the shock of the news report, and the subdued mood that followed, the occupants sank back into their sulks over the day's events. Rogue alone remained affected by the report, though everyone else around her put her shock and quietness down to her fight with Kitty. She sat on her own, and about half an hour later, she kissed Pietro softly on the forehead, and disappeared up the stairs. Kitty had the grace to look slightly guilty over how much she thought she'd offended her friend, but when she contemplated the idea of and apology, her face settled firmly back into a frown. Rogue was wrong about Lorna, she knew it.  
  
But Rogue didn't go straight to sleep that night. In fact, looking back, she wasn't quite sure if she had slept at all. Every time she closed her eyes, she felt the images she had seen on the telly being scorched onto her closed eyelids, and in her ears echoed the voice of that caller. Rogue sighed, and rolled over in her bed, feeling a tingle across her skin as her face became exposed to the breeze that was blowing in through the window. The shivering seeped in through her goose pimpled skin, and sent waves of shivers down her spine. In her mind, she came to a conclusion that she had been fighting against ever since she had hung up the phone. If the caller was genuine, and everything did depend on some choice she had to make, then surely the lives of those people in that desert must surely weigh somewhere on her shoulders. Rogue felt her throat go thick, and threw the covers over her head fiercely. She didn't want any of this; she'd never wanted any of it. She didn't want to be the untouchable one; she didn't want to be the special one. She just wanted to be herself.  
  
A tear fell down Rogue's cheek at last, as illogical guilt splashed over her. It was as if she was back at the mansion, and Rahne had died all over again. And she was completely useless. She couldn't cope with people telling her how special she was, when she knew that when it counted, she had never been there to save the day. This was not how a teenage girl should live her life. More tears threatened to fall, and Rogue angrily shoved them away, not even hearing the person creeping up behind her. She felt two cool hands clamp over her wet eyes, and heard the slight gasp at the tears that person was now touching. She didn't need to ask who it was.  
  
'Pietro' she croaked out, wanting to kick herself for how weak and feeble her voice sounded, even to her ears. She leaned her head back against his chest, and he rocked her softly in his arms, making soothing noises in her ear. Rogue felt herself calming almost instantly, until the tears subsided, and she lay still in her boyfriend's arms. Pietro moved her slowly around, until the two of them were face to face in the dying light, their noses so close they were almost touching. Pietro drew breath. Even when she was sad beyond belief, Rogue still looked so beautiful. He cupped her face in his hands, a little concerned to see that the tears were still hiding at the backs of her eyes.  
  
'So' he murmured, 'are you going to tell me what that phone call was really about?' he searched her face, and saw no surprise at his question. She had been lying earlier. He knew it, and she knew he knew. Which was kind of confusing.  
  
Rogue didn't quite know what to say. She wanted to blurt out everything. She wanted to tell Pietro about her insecurities, that she could do nothing to help when it really mattered. She wanted to go over the call with him, and to see whether he too connected it to a massacre that had occurred on the other side of the world on the very same day. But just as she opened her mouth to speak, she faltered, and the words slipped back down her throat and deep inside of her. She just couldn't force herself to tell him what was really going on.  
  
'It was just one of those girls from school. They were really mean, calling me a slut and stuff.' She gave him a weak chuckle, to hide her quivering lip. 'I guess it's silly to let them get to me.'  
  
She saw the disappointment in his lovely eyes, and the vague sense of hurt that was laced within them. She wanted to cry again with shame. She would never, in a million years have considered lying to Pietro, the one person in the world whom she considered to be her soul mate. But something from within was telling her, that she could trust absolutely nobody with the information she had gleaned from today. She bit on her lip, and blinked several times, hoping he would take the hint.  
  
Pietro sighed. It was soft and short, but still noticeable. He kissed Rogue on the forehead, and rose gently from the bed.  
  
'All right' he said resignedly, 'If you want to talk about it, I'll be waiting. I can see you're tired, so try to get some sleep, okay?' he felt like he was her father or something, and shook himself mentally as he crossed the room.  
  
Rogue had already turned over. Not to sleep, but to again drown herself in a now fresh pool of her own guilt. Had she been paying a little bit more attention to what was going on around her, she would have seen that there was someone waiting for Pietro in the light that stretched out beyond the bedroom door.  
  
Around the same time that Rogue had left the sitting room, Kitty too had announced her intention to go to bed. She did proclaim however, that she would be spending the night in one of the few remaining bedrooms in the large old house. She didn't have to state her reason, everyone knew now about the argument that had taken place between the two girls. Mystique watched her go with a slight frown on her face. She had absolutely nothing against the Pryde girl, but her first priority was to her daughter. And Kitty had clearly upset Rogue, making her not too favoured in her books at that moment in time.  
  
Mystique paused from her thoughts to look around the room, noting that every pair of eyes was darting in her direction every few moments. Ah, she said wryly to herself, that would be my cue to leave. If she had gained one thing from leaving with so many young people, it was how to tell just what it was that teenagers actually wanted you to do, when they gave no physical clues other than shrugs of shoulders, and one worded answers. She quickly excused herself, and left the room with a slightly amused look on her face.  
  
  
  
Lance was rather proud and confident in saying that he had become a much more patient and mature person over the previous year. After all the things that had happened, he was pretty certain in stating that he had become a better person. But even with this new, mellowed out attitude, there was only so much he could take. And he had just about now reached his fill. With Kitty and Rogue now at odds, he could be sure that his girlfriend would now be moaning about her friend's advice, and on top of everything else he'd had to endure today, he'd had all he could take. Immediately, some rebellious part of him, which had been lying dormant recently, began to kick in. it was the part of Avalanche that made him either the most fun person to be around, or the most dangerous person you've ever met.  
  
In his mind now, Lance knew that he had to get out of the house. There were two things that could cheer him up at that point in time; women and alcohol. Even in his present state, he knew he would never even dream of cheating on Kitty, so alcohol it was. He was pretty sure that there was some form of bar, even in a town as boring as this, and he knew that with his housemates in the state they were in, he would have no problem in sneaking out.  
  
It was at this point that he surveyed the faces of the other guys, who looked like they'd never even heard of the word smile. Lance mentally added them to his list of people who were in need of a good time. Hell, they deserved a good time. Besides, didn't they say that misery loves company?  
  
He silently thanked his lucky break. With Mystique's departure, he now felt he could talk to the other male members of the household about a little plan he had for that evening. He had had it up to there with Kitty's enthusiasm over those valley girls, and her moaning about how Rogue was jealous and didn't understand. He loved his girlfriend very much, but he felt he had to agree with the other girl. Those bitches were definitely up to something.  
  
There did remain one problem, and that was that Tabby was still in the room. He waited until she was safely engaged in conversation with Fred, before making some frantic gestures at Kurt from across the room. Fortunately, Blue boy was quite quick on the uptake, and with a wink and a smile, he led his girlfriend from the room, with a slight raised eyebrow in Lance's direction as they passed by.  
  
The rest of the boys were giving him odd glances too, and Lance beckoned quickly for them to lean forward. They soon formed a kind of circle around the coffee table, and judging by the looks of their faces close up, Lance could tell that they were in as much need of a good time as he was.  
  
'Right' he began, 'I would say that this day has been pretty bad for all of us, so I strongly suggest that we at least end it on a high note.' He gave a conspiratorial glance in his friend's direction.  
  
Pietro looked sort of sceptical. 'What exactly do you suggest?' he said, half his mouth curled into a smile.  
  
'Oh come on, it's not hard.' Lance said, rolling his eyes. 'I'm not talking about trashing a public monument or anything like that. I'm just saying that, while the ladies erm, readjust their hormones (when saying this he was glad none of them were present), we slip out and have a couple of innocent drinks in one of the towns few night spots.' He smiled around at the group, as he could practically see them absorbing and deliberating this idea in their heads. Before anyone could even bring up the underage thing, Lance scoffed, saying 'and don't you try and tell me you don't still have those fake I.D's we got back in Bayville.'  
  
They had got a real kick of doing stuff like that back in the brotherhood. He remembered that Rogue had just shaken her head at them, and headed up the stairs, stomping on every step. He knew that her disapproval had stemmed not from being uptight, but from envy. She couldn't have gone somewhere as closely packed as a bar back then, and he had seen the pain in her eyes whenever he'd even suggested it. Things were different now of course, because this time only, he didn't really think Rogue ought to be coming along with them, even though she now could.  
  
Across from him, he saw Pietro give a casual shrug of his shoulders, meaning that he was in. 'Sure,' he said, 'Just give me a moment to check on Rogue first.' One look at Fred and Todd's faces told him that they were already imagining themselves outside the door. He now looked at the face of Scott Summers, who, even though he didn't have a fake I.D like the others, would probably not even be asked, because he looked so damn mature.  
  
Scott leaned back a little, smiling serenely. 'I don't know what you're talking about, I had a pretty good first day.' Lance and the others rolled their eyes, and prepared to get off their respective seats. 'Wait' he called, smiling growing wider, 'I never said that meant I wasn't in! Just let me get my coat!' he left the room, whistling to himself, and Lance wondered whether it was possible for one person to change so very much.  
  
'Don't we need to get Kurt, I mean he did get Boom Boom out the way.' Fred said, teetering in the doorway. Lance nodded, and sent Todd to go and fetch the Blue boy, who they could all safely assume would be up for this escapade. Pietro disappeared up the stairs to go and see Rogue, and Lance soon followed to peer in on Kitty. She was already fast asleep in her bed, even though it was only ten at night. Approaching closer to her, Lance was struck by how innocent she looked when she was asleep. How very still and peaceful she was.  
  
'Mmmpf' Kitty muttered, throwing her arm out across the bed. 'Mmmrg, mmr, sure Lorna!'  
  
Lance rolled his eyes, and clicked the door shut again, any feelings of remorse about leaving Kitty after her argument with Rogue now firmly gone from his mind. On his way to meet Pietro, Lance made a quick stop to check whether Mystique was in her room. Leaning in on her door, he could hear the sounds of footsteps padding across carpet within, and decided that things were pretty safe for them to move on out. That was, if Kurt had dealt with Tabby.  
  
He waited outside the door to the girls' room, and was slightly worried to see Pietro's face as he left the room. Lance frowned slightly, and leant in to talk quietly, so as to disturb nobody in the hallways.  
  
'What's wrong with Rogue?' he asked. When Pietro looked like that, one could usually guess that the cause of this expression was Rogue related. Pietro shook his head slightly, and made an indication that this was a discussion to take place later, probably after some drinking had been done. Lance felt in his pocket, checking that his ID was still there. In all reality, he probably looked the oldest out of all the guys going, and would therefore be obliged to get the drinks. He motioned for Pietro to follow him through the house, where they met Scott, Todd and Fred on the porch. A few moments later, Kurt came running into view, looking a little bit out of breath.  
  
'Where are we going?' he asked, and the others looked incredulous. Kurt was quite fully prepared to sneak out the house at night, without any knowledge of where he was actually going.  
  
'Town' Lance replied simply, 'Where's Tabby?'  
  
Kurt grinned in reply, 'I asked her if she wanted to play a late night game of hide and seek, she's still under a bench in the shed if I'm not much mistaken.'  
  
'Dude!' Todd protested, even though he was laughing a little bit. 'She's gonna be waiting there for ages, don't you think that's a bit harsh?'  
  
Kurt looked as though this thought had only just occurred to him, and a slight crease of worry appeared on his forehead.  
  
'Maybe I should go and fetch her, tell her I'm just going out or something. It shouldn't take that long, and she shouldn't be too mad at me.'  
  
'We're going to the bar.' Lance said simply.  
  
'Right' Kurt responded quickly, 'I'll see her when we get back then. She'll understand I'm sure.'  
  
And without further ado, the male population of the old mansion set out to explore for the first time what Bedford Falls had to offer as regards to nightlife.  
  
Tabby had been waiting in the old shed in the garden corner for, oh, say twenty minutes now. The foot she had started tapping when she entered the musty old building had now built to a crescendo, stamping on the ground in frustration. Even Kurt wasn't this bad at hide and seek. Besides, it wasn't like this place wasn't obvious. She chosen it partly because of that, so Kurt could find her easily, and partly because it meant they could do other things besides hide and seek, and be completely undisturbed. Of course all this didn't matter if the big blue git couldn't damn well find her. Tabby decided to throw caution to the wind, and left the confines of the shed to she if she could find just what ridiculous place Kurt had been looking for her in.  
  
Her search was brought to a rather abrupt end though, when she came around to the front of the house, and could see that one of the cars was missing. A twinkling light in the distance gave away its position, heading down the road into what little town there was.  
  
Tabby conducted a quick search of the grounds, which told her all she needed to know. Not only was Kurt missing, but so were all the male members of the house. She stormed up to the rooms where her friends were, fully on the warpath. If the boys had snuck off somewhere alone, they were definitely up to something completely wrong, and so shameful they couldn't tell anyone else about it. And they'd left her out of it!  
  
Lance pushed his way through the crowds, carrying with him the fifth round of drinks the guys had purchased. He could make out his group through the throng of males lamenting over their drinks, and worked his way around them to reach the small table in the corner of the room, around which they were all clustered. The bar was not the nicest one you were ever going to encounter. The room was pungent with the smell of stale cigarettes, and the smoke that now filled the room gave everything a slightly blurry quality. Or maybe, Lance reasoned, that was partly down to the drink. The reason that they had settled upon this particular establishment, was because it was as far out of town as possible, and so they were least likely to be recognised as the new guys in town, who most certainly shouldn't be in a place like this. The spots in town where the young people went, they firmly avoided. And so it was that they came to be here, and bad as here was, Lance was grateful to be out the house, with a few good drinks down him. Even now, he could feel his senses becoming a little it dulled, and he stumbled slightly on his was to the table. It wasn't something he liked to confess, but he wasn't the best person in the world at holding his drink.  
  
However bad he was, he wasn't as awful at it as Scott however, who was now slouched in the far corner of the booth, with a madman's smile on his face. Lance was amused to see that everyone here had their own special way of coping with the effects of alcohol. Scott, as he had noted earlier, succumbed fully to the drink, going from a little bit tipsy to full on plastered in the space of about two or three strong drinks. He himself became slightly dizzier than he normally was, and a lot more mellowed too. You didn't know if Kurt was drunk at all, because he behaved like a complete lunatic nearly all the time, and Fred and Todd were both typical examples of drunken men, slurring sentences and holding onto each other like long lost brothers. Pietro, on the other hand, seemed to be even sharper than normal under the influence of alcohol, looking more sober than he had when he'd actually entered the building. He was watching his friends with a smirk of amusement on his face.  
  
Lance put the drinks on the table, and collapsed down next to him. 'Smug git', he said, prodding his friend somewhat haphazardly in the arm. Pietro grinned at him again for a moment, before his smile faded, and he turned back to the conversation he and Lance had been having before he'd had to go for more drink. Well, it wasn't so much of a conversation, and more of a Pietro rant.  
  
'She lied to me', he said for the umpteenth time, holding his glass up for emphasis. 'She's never ever lied to me before, I'm sure of it. Why would she lie?' he said, even do he didn't really expect an answer from Lance in this state. The dark haired boy next to him just shook his head in a bewildered manner, and downed the contents of the glass in his hand. Pietro raised an eyebrow in Lance's direction. He knew about his inability to cope with drink, and was shocked that he'd made it this far without slipping into unconsciousness. He himself didn't feel a bit drunk. He supposed it was probably some bizarre side effect of his mutant powers. Pleased as he was that he wasn't incapacitated like his friends were, he was a bit peeved that he couldn't really feel the effects of drink that men treasured so much.  
  
He drove thoughts such as these from his mind, and settled back into pondering just what it was that had made his girlfriend lie to him for the first time. What did the person on the other end of the phone say to Rogue to make her so upset, and why didn't she feel she could tell him about it. He cast another sideways glance at Lance, who was fighting to keep his head from falling on the table, and wondered to himself if Rogue would tell him what was going on. He felt a rare stab of jealousy in his gut, at the special friendship between his best friend and the girl he loved most in the world, and supposed that that was the effect drink had on him; it brought his nastier feelings to the surface. Known for being rather self- satisfied, it was only occasionally that Pietro found himself feeling jealous. The last time he had felt jealous had again been over Rogue, and he cursed himself for the effect he allowed her to have on him. But this wasn't like before. He knew Lance would never try anything on with Rogue, and vice versa. He treated her like the little sister he'd never had. What Pietro really wished, was that Rogue could talk to him like she did to Lance, especially about what was bothering her so much. He kicked the table in frustration, jutting Scott from his stupor.  
  
Pietro picked himself from the table, muttering to the others 'I need to get out of here.' Unlike them, drinking was not an escape for him. He forced himself through the mass of bodies, and pushed open the door with the broken windowpanes in it. His friend's looked at each other in confusion, before shrugging their shoulders and dizzily following him. It was probably a good thing that Pietro was so sober, because at least someone would be able to drive them all home.  
  
In everyone elses mind, the evening had been a great success. Most had achieved their objective of getting completely drunk, some more thoroughly than others. Kurt was supporting Scott, though not to full effect. Every few steps he would give a little hiccough that would cause him to bampf somewhere nearby, for example up the nearest tree. Kurt's sudden disappearance would cause Scott to topple over, and the rest would stand there laughing at the two as though this was the funniest thing they'd ever seen. Pietro considered running away and coming back for them all in the morning, but was stopped from doing this by the unfortunate appearance of the jock who had tried to waste Todd in the cafeteria that day. He was followed down the street by several of his cronies, who from the looks of things had been enjoying the same sort of night out as they had. This didn't make him feel any better towards them though, and as he spotted the menace that had crossed their faces all of a sudden; Pietro knew that there was going to be some trouble.  
  
The head meathead approached them, face set in a scowl. He spotted Todd amongst the group, which seemed to confirm his suspicions as to who this band of teens was. He ordered his thugs up behind him, and stepped up to face Pietro. This would have been a good move, being that the silver haired boy was the most rational of the group at that point in time, and therefore some alternative to violence could have been worked out. However, the jock quickly followed up this good move with a blunder that was to prove costly. For as he placed Pietro in his drunken head, his frown collapsed from under him under a cruel kind of sneer.  
  
'This time, we're gonna cream all you guy, and your slut girlfriend ain't there to watch you get..' what Pietro was about to get, nobody ever found out. Because the moment the words girlfriend and slut had left the jocks mouth, Pietro had brought his fist back and socked him in the jaw. He had a deceptive kind of strength for someone so thin, and the guy was thrown completely off guard and balance, careering backwards into his friend.  
  
It was though somehow had just signalled for the start of a race. The guys ran at each other with drunken enthusiasm. No powers were being used by the mutants, just good old fists. And they were pleased to see that all their training from Bayville had paid off, because even when plastered, they still packed a punch. But the jocks were still strong, and it wasn't long before noses were bleeding, bruises were beginning to form, and street was being torn apart. At one point, Fred grabbed hold of what he thought was a streetlight. His judgement of size had obviously gone, because what he actually picked up was a water pipe. Sprays of icy cold water shot at the jocks, and a brilliant fountain now erupted from the sidewalk. Fred looked at in confusion, dropping the large object in his hands on a blonde haired boy's leg. 'Hey' he said, 'Where did that come from? S'pretty.' He sat down heavily, and watched the jets in front of him.  
  
Probably at this point, or maybe a bit before, the alarms had been set off at the local police force. Pietro could hear sirens in the distance. With a quick look round, he saw that a large portion of the jocks were out cold, and the others barely had a clue what was going on. He picked out Kurt in the crowd, dancing over a fallen football player, and shouted over to him. 'Kurt, port Fred and Todd back to the gates of the house, and come back for the other two. We'll come back for the car tomorrow.' Kurt nodded once, still grinning insanely. He went over to Fred, and Todd followed him. Grasping hold of the two boys, he bamfed out of sight. He was back in about ten seconds, by which time Pietro had hauled Scott to his feet. He was so gone, that a feather could have knocked him over, and he'd been out before any of the jocks had even touched him. Lance was still vaguely sensible, having been woken up by the prospect of a fight. Pietro handed them over to Kurt with a roll of his eyes, and started running as he saw a flash of blue light in the distance, meaning that the group of guys left would find themselves with a massive bill to pay for the damage to the street.  
  
Pietro gave a malicious chuckle into the wind as he ran. Even if she was hiding something from him at this point in time, nobody insulted his girlfriend and got away with it. He wished for a moment that Rogue had been there to witness the fight, and then thought again, when he imagined her face if she knew what they'd been up to. He's asked Kurt to port to the gates of the house, so he could get his friends to approach as cautiously as possible. If luck was with them, they could probably still get back to their rooms without being caught.  
  
The others were waiting for him at the old gates, some propped up against them. Pietro put a finger over his lips, and motioned for them all to follow him as quietly as possible. Scott started giggling at this, putting a finger to his own lips in comical fashion, and tiptoeing along like a cartoon character. If that cartoon character had consumed a surprising amount of liqueur. His swaying movements soon caught the attention of the others, who all started mimicking him, giggling like little children.  
  
Pietro gave an exasperated sigh, and made frantic gestures for them to shut up as they finally approached the house. He pushed the door open quickly and silently, and beckoned for the guys to file past him into the entrance hall. Each of them gave him a conspiratorial glance that looked more like a facial spasm, before part walking, part wobbling into the dark room.  
  
Pietro shut the door with a relieved sort of noise, just as the light flicked on. Mystique, Kitty, Rogue and Tabby were all waiting for them, each with their arms folded across their chests, and thunderous expressions on their faces.  
  
'I would ask where you think you were' said Mystique in an acid voice, the kind that used to scare the hell out of them when she'd lived with them before, 'But somehow, I don't really think that's necessary.'  
  
Next to him, Lance looked at them all, casting an especially fearful glance in the direction of a furious Kitty. He then collapsed against the doorway, but not before a hearty shout of 'Bugger!' that was somehow made all the more effective by Scott throwing up on the floor.  
  
Scott opened his eyes with some difficulty the next morning, feeling the sun on his face as though someone were shooting him with a laser gun. He sat up slowly in bed, feeling the contents of his head banging painfully against his skull, as he tried to recall just what had happened last night. All he got was a fuzzy kind of ache, and a very nasty taste in his mouth, so he assumed that whatever had happened hadn't been good. He remembered agreeing to go out to a bar with Lance and the other guys, and then they drove to the bar, and then they had a drink, and then some other stuff had happened, which was probably what he should be trying to remember. Holding his throbbing head painfully, Scott made his way to the bathroom, though not before waiting until he could balance properly. He felt in the cupboard for some Asprin, and swallowed the pills without water, before he even begun to brush his teeth. Whilst reaching for the toothpaste, he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror, which furthered his knowledge of what had happened the previous night. His hair was mussed up beyond belief, with what he suspected was a piece of gum and a nickel stuck in there somewhere. Beneath his ever-present shades, his eyes felt heavy lidded. Gritting his teeth, Scott reached up into his hair, and pulled the offending items from it, not without some difficulty.  
  
When at last the things had been taken out, Scott grimaced as he looked into the smiling face on the coin in front of him. He ran a hand through his now even messier hair, and looked at the watch that was still on his wrist. He realised that he had about twenty minutes before he absolutely had to be downstairs. Scott sighed, and reached for the cold tap of the shower.  
  
When he reached the kitchen after those twenty minutes, it was to the sound of raised voices. Not in anger, but more in begging.  
  
'Rogue listen, it was just a few harmless drinks.' Pietro said imploringly. He was standing with Lance and Kurt, like prisoners in a dock. Before them stood their three girlfriends, all of who were surveying their significant others coldly. Scott noticed that Pietro had a black eye, Kurt a bruise on his cheek, and Lance a slightly swollen nose. Bloody hell, he thought to himself, feeling over his face for some similar disfigurement. What the hell did we get up to last night?  
  
He went over to join Fred and Todd, who were watching their friends as though they were trying their very hardest not to burst into laughter. Scott too saw the funny side. When confronted by their angry girlfriends, the three grown up guys were reduced to snivelling schoolboys. The sniggers ended prematurely when Mystique threw a bag of muesli on the table in front of them.  
  
'Don't even think that you'll be getting off lightly.' She snapped, and the remaining boys fell silent too. Scott was still a little hazy over what had actually happened, and looking at his friend's faces, they remembered little more than he did.  
  
He looked back at the argument taking place in front of him. To be perfectly honest, it was less of an argument, and more of a one sided plea from the men towards their reluctant girlfriends. None of the girls were speaking, standing like ice statues behind the table. Rogue and Kitty were standing together, now united against the guys, even if only briefly. And despite the situation they now found themselves in, Scott could also see that all three guys were quite relieved that the two girls were no longer glaring at each other.  
  
The 'discussion' came to an abrupt end, when the girls stormed out of the room with their heads held high. The guys turned round with dejected faces, and quickly realised that they would be getting no sympathy whatsoever from Mystique. In fact, when they stared at the menacing way in which she was gripping her spoon, they decided that perhaps it was best to get out of the kitchen altogether. They practically ran from the room, and after having a nervous look at Mystiques angry face, Scott followed suit with Todd. Fred grabbed a few pieces of toast, and ran out after them as fast as his rather substantial frame could carry him.  
  
Mystique watched the boys run from the kitchen as though there were a fire in there, and she had to fight back the little bit of laughter that threatened to melt her icy exterior. She'd never had any real dealings with young people, before Magneto had assigned her to looking after the brotherhood. In the beginning, she'd felt no affection for them, so she couldn't see herself being caring towards them. She found that after a few days, they began to irritate her slightly, so she threw the understanding attitude out of the window. So it was, that by disregarding these methods for dealing with young people, she had stumbled upon the singular most effective way of dealing with them. Fear. She knew that they might talk about her behind her back, that they may use the words 'bitch' and 'evil' on a regular basis, but they sure as hell were scared of her. And it worked wonders for her authority.  
  
But now that she had Kurt and Rogue, she didn't know what to do. She didn't want her own children to be scared of her, and she even felt a sort of parental feeling for the other teens in the house. Things between the new family were still sort of awkward, but she would like to think that they were improving each day. She still didn't know quite how to treat Rogue and Kurt, but she was glad that they were there so she could learn.  
  
And she was in the middle of learning something. Rogue was upset. She didn't know whether it was about her argument with Kitty, or something else altogether. But she wanted to know; she wanted to be there for her daughter. Like she hadn't been there when she was growing up.  
  
The problem was finding an opportunity to talk. Rogue was nearly always with someone. Whether it was with Pietro, talking to Lance, or just messing around with Kurt and co., Rogue was always in the company of others. She had been going to talk to her last night, but the disappearance of the boys had put a halt to that. Perhaps she wouldn't have been so frustrated with them, if they hadn't interrupted what could have been a crucial moment between mother and daughter.  
  
Mystique looked down at her hand, which was not turning a funny colour due to the tightness with which she was now gripping her spoon. Now she knew why the boys had left as fast as they did. 'Well what do you know' she said, letting the laughter finally come through. 'I've still got it!'  
  
The group that arrived at the school entrance that day was a little different to the one who had strolled through the day before. The division between the sexes was pretty obvious for people to see, and it was also pretty clear to see which group had instigated the divide. After going to the other side of town to pick up the car that the guys had abandoned the previous night, the men were forced to pile into it together. They were all still nursing their wounds from the fight, because Rogue refused to heal the cuts, partly because she and the other girls were refusing to talk to them, and they drove sullenly up to the school. The three girls then walked off together, never once looking back at their followers, who every now and then stopped to make pleading sort of gestures.  
  
As they reached the door, Kurt shouted after them in desperation. 'Come on, it was just a few drinks. You can't be this mad over that!' The others held their hands up to silence him, but it was already too late. Tabby turned around, blew a raspberry at the group, and the school doors swung shut in their faces.  
  
'Good job Kurt!' Pietro said, throwing his hands up in frustration, 'Now we're gonna need a forklift truck to get us out the hole we're in.'  
  
Looking at the depressed faces behind the glass, the three girls couldn't help but burst into fits of laughter. They pulled into a nearby girl's room, so that they wouldn't be seen, and then bent over double in giggles. After about five minutes of solid laughing, Kitty finally stood up, wiping her eyes from tears of mirth that were now streaming down her cheeks.  
  
'So' she said, slightly short of breath now. 'Are we going to, like forgive them anytime soon?' she looked around at the two of them, mischief alive in all of their eyes.  
  
'What, talk to them you mean? Sure!' Tabby said, nodding so enthusiastically that her short blonde hair bobbed with her. 'But that does in no way mean we are even!' she began to rub her hands together, looking so shifty that Rogue had no trouble in deciding that this girl was absolutely perfect for her brother. She was up for a little revenge too however, and she and Kitty leaned forward eagerly.  
  
'What do you have in mind?' Rogue asked, keeness shining through in her voice. Tabby just smiled and tapped a finger to her nose, before twirling round and heading for the door.  
  
'I'll tell you when I have the plans finalised. Right now I have to get to class.' Her two friends both raised their eyebrows skyward at this. 'Okay, so I don't have to go to class, but I do have to go.' She grinned and departed the room before they could utter another word. It was only then that they realised her intention. Rogue and Kitty were now alone to talk.  
  
'So' Kitty said, shuffling her feet. She didn't quite know what to say now. When they had been angry with the guys, she'd completely forgotten about her argument with Rogue. And now, she didn't really feel angry anymore, she just didn't know what to think.  
  
Rogue too was nervously fiddling with the sleeves on her shirt. 'Erm, look Kitty. I'm sorry if you thought what you thought. I guess I was just warning you to be careful. I never meant that you couldn't have other friends.'  
  
Kitty looked contrite now. So Rogue thought that she was forgetting her old friends, and that's why she'd said all that stuff. It all made sense to Kitty now, whether it was true or not.  
  
'Look Rogue' she said, with kindness in her voice. 'I can look after myself you know, but I do still need you as a friend, okay?' she said, as reassuringly as possible.  
  
'Uh, ok.' Rogue said, sounding a little bit bothered, as though the conversation had in no way gone the way that she had wanted it to go. Kitty gave her a quick hug, which Rogue returned in a rather bemused fashion. Kitty then turned her back on her, and headed to the stalls.  
  
'I'll talk to Lorna for you ok? I'll see if I can straighten things out between the two of you.' She called over her back. Rogue made a small sound, and still looking a bit like she'd just banged her head against a wall, wandered out of the bathroom, to find and partially forgive her wayward boyfriend and his friends before classes began.  
  
Kitty was just about to open the toilet door when she heard the sound of Lorna and her group of girls walking into the bathroom to fix their make up before heading off to lessons. She instinctively reached for the catch; to go and join her new friends in what was most likely their morning gossip session, but something Rogue had said about being careful held her back. Instead, she leaned back slightly, and kept as quiet as possible, listening in to what the girls had to say.  
  
Lorna flipped her hair a few times, even now admiring the glossy reflection that she saw in the bathroom mirror. The hair treatment she'd got at the salon last night had really been worth it. Next to her, her friends were applying more mascara, and touching up their already flawless lipstick. 'So' Lorna said, 'did you hear about the fight that the guys got into last night?'  
  
From the gasps and eager silence that met this question, Lorna knew that she had an audience. And boy, was she a fan of attentive audiences. She looked at them all, as if judging whether or not it was right to trust them with this information. In reality, she was just milking the moment for all it was worth.  
  
'Well' she said, glancing around as if someone were listening (which they were, but that was beside the point), 'I heard from Aura last night, that Joey and his crew got wasted by some of the new kids, and they were all hauled in by the cops!' she said, waiting for the drama of her news to sink in. the girls around her pressed their hands to their faces in melodramatic shock.  
  
'The new kids?' one of them said with baited breath, 'Which ones?'  
  
'Aura said it was the guys, all of them. According to her, the ran by the time the cops came, and left our guys to take the blame.' She shook her head, and most her entourage interpreted her disapproval correctly, and made similar movements.  
  
One of the girls even had the nerve to add comment to what Lorna had already said. 'I bet it was that dark haired one who started it, the one who goes round with the Pryde girl. He seems kind of dangerous.'  
  
Oddly enough, Lorna did not respond to this attempt to share her spotlight. She merely gave a harsh little laugh. 'Ah yes, our new friend Kitty.' She laughed again, throwing her head back. A split second later, the others all joined in.  
  
'What exactly are you doing with that girl?' another of the girls was brave enough to drawl, in between the application of a different shade of eyeshadow.  
  
Lorna gave a smirk. 'What do you think? It's a perfect way to get back at that white haired bitch. Alienate her from one of her closest friends, and use her to get back at her. And the Pryde girl is such an easy target. She honestly believes she can just slot into our group!' she made a derisive snort. 'Well, once she and ole stripey have had a major catfight, we'll let her know where she stands, but until then, keep it quiet!' she waved her hand at them all, and the girls all fell over themselves to agree. A few moments later, Lorna decided that she had done perfecting herself, and it was time for the group to move out into the hall, where their preening could be fully admired. She led the group out the door, and as it clicked shut, their laughter still echoed around the room.  
  
Kitty pushed open the door, tears of humiliation and sadness now coursing down her cheeks. She wiped them away fiercely, and dabbed at her eyes with a tissue. As the wet steaks dried, her resolve hardened. Rogue was right, and she had been a complete idiot. But she was going to make Lorna Baker look a hundred times worse, by the time she was through with her.  
  
Rogue finally caught up to Pietro on the way to English. He was leaning against a locker, still looking a little bit despondent. Sneaking up behind him, Rogue tapped him lightly on the shoulder, and then quickly slipped her arms around his slim waist. Pietro spun around to see her, as though a light had just been flicked on in his eyes. His silvery hair fell over his forehead appealingly, and the black and blueish skin around his eye made him look like he'd been through the wars. A smile lit up his chiselled face, so he bore resemblance to a particularly handsome looking marble statue. Rogue leant upwards a little and kissed him soundly on the lips, which were most certainly not made of marble.  
  
Pietro pulled back a little, and grinned down into her face. He saw that she looked much happier than when he'd last seen her, both when she'd been upset and when she'd been angry. He was still slightly disturbed about her hiding who the caller had been last night, but he wasn't going to let that spoil that fact that she was now smiling at him again. 'So' he said in a low voice, 'Does this mean I'm forgiven.'  
  
Rogue nodded, grinning back, and crossing her fingers behind her back. It was probably best to let the guys think they were off the hook, whatever Tabby's plan actually was. 'You're forgiven' she said solemnly, putting a temporary mask over her face. 'Until you next do something stupid that is.'  
  
Pietro laughed and took her in his arms, trying to push away all thoughts other than her and him and this moment, and to forget that there was something she was just not telling him.  
  
Scott watched Pietro and Rogue make up with a bittersweet smile on his face. It hurt less and less every time he saw them together, but that in no way meant it didn't still hurt. Fortunately for him, the most pleasant distraction possible was at that moment making her way towards him. Lydia smiled sunnily at him, and he grinned and waved back enthusiastically, before realising that his head had yet to fully heal from the exertions of last night. Lydia stopped then, and surveyed his face, taking in his tired face, and appearance. She put her hand up, and patted him on the arm sympathetically.  
  
'Rough night huh?' she asked, even though she was already aware of the rumours that were circulating around the school of the fight that had taken place between the two groups of drunken youths.  
  
Scott put a weary hand to his head, and grinned wryly at her, though all the time aware of the continuing presence of her hand on his arm. 'You have no idea.' He said, and then paused for a moment, looking slightly lost. 'Then again, neither do I'.  
  
Lydia laughed, and squeezed the arm that was beneath her hand. 'Don't worry' she said consolingly, 'I'm sure that, as the headache goes, some of the details will come back to you.' The two of them then left, arm in arm for class, with Scott completely forgetting about Rogue and Pietro.  
  
And at that point in time, Lance was approaching his own love interest with some serious caution indeed. Not only was Kitty angry at him for the events of last night, but she had also shown no signs of having dropped Lorna and her group of sheep as friends, which meant that she'd probably still be singing their praises to him, when she wasn't shouting at him. He kept his face looking contrite, and walked up to her carefully; clutching in his hand a flower he'd taken from the school grounds. He was a little surprised however, when Kitty oohed and ahhed at his thoughtful gift, and forgave him completely for going out and getting hammered. She even promised him that in future she was going to rant less, and not talk so much about her new friends.  
  
Lance was both pleased by this, and slightly worried. Never, in all the time he had known Kitty, had she ever forgiven anyone this quickly. When, later that day, he saw that all the other guys were suddenly back in the girls good books, he fully began to suspect that they were up to something. After all, just this morning, Kitty had thrown an apple at him, and promptly declared that she would never be speaking to him again. What was going on?  
  
Lance sighed, and decided to just go with it. Because whatever it was that the girls had planned for them, it was a damn sight better than being ignored by them. He put his arm around Kitty's shoulders, and entirely missed the secret smiles she exchanged with Tabby and Rogue as they left the school on only their second day attending Bayville High.  
  
It was a new day for Apocalypse too. Though, in his world, night and day were largely irrelevant. A being such as him was in want of no sleep. He had limitless energy for the time being, and was better channelling it into other things. Like how to cleanse the world of filthy human life.  
  
He could still feel the things he had felt during the slaughter of the village not so long ago. He could still hear the pleading screams of the young ones in his ears, and could feel the cracking of fragile bones at his fingertips. It felt so good to be killing again. To have once more, the power to decide between life and death. He was again with form, and the judgement day for the Earth was fast approaching.  
  
But first he had to make plans. The killing of the village, pleasant as it may have been, was only a warm up. He had to enlist help, to gain allies who would form an army strong enough to wipe human beings off of the planet. He reached out within himself, felt across the continents, to find creatures who were purer than the rest, not reeking with the pathetic stench of meaningless human life. There was one, he could see, in possession of great gifts of the mind. He would be a powerful ally, but he would not come willingly, for he was a lover of control, a slave to his own ambitions. Any greatness, which Apocalypse could offer him, would never be enough, because it would mean him succumbing to and serving another. This man would not work with him, so Apocalypse would kill him.  
  
But there was another who was skilled in the mind, in possession of potential that had yet to be hacked into, and hidden from the world. If he could find this creature, then he could indeed make them into a formidable force. There were others too, clustered together in various groups. One, a master of the metals, revelling in his own supposed superiority. He too wished to be rid of the humans; perhaps he would be one to help. There were more hidden beings, working from within the underworld, shunned by people who they were so much better than. Apocalypse would show them the true meaning of power, and he would let them help him in his quest. He would give these petty beings a chance for revenge, and they would serve him well because of it.  
  
But then, he cast his mind out once more, like a fisherman's net; and he saw that there was one other, standing head and shoulders above the rest. The power that radiated from them stood out like a beacon and shone over continents. They, if joined with Apocalypse, would seal forever the fate of the human race.  
  
And, if they refused to ally themselves with him, then they were the only thing on the planet that could possibly put up any challenge to his conquest. Whatever the situation, Apocalypse had to get to this entity, if nothing else, then to watch them, to witness them in battle, and gain an idea of their strengths and weaknesses. Apocalypse was not called a warlord for nothing.  
  
In any case, his business lay mostly across the oceans. The sun was rising, as the massive bulk raised itself from the ground, and continued on it's journey across the sands, never once resting until it reached it's destination. America was about to receive a little visit.  
  
DISCLAIMER: Characters and situation are property of Marvel and WB  
  
AUTHORS NOTE: Sorry that took so long to get out; I didn't mean to wait that long before writing it! I shall be trying to move the plot along next chapter, and we should see a return of the anonymous caller (can ya guess who it is yet?!). Oh yeah, if anyone has any ideas as to how the girls can get the boys back, I'd be glad to hear em. One more thing, KEEP REVIEWING!! (Thanks if you already have). 


	5. A meeting and a little bit of revenge

Chapter five  
  
A full two weeks had passed since the massacre in the desert, and no other attacks or killings of that kind had found their way into the headlines. But Apocalypse was far from inactive, he was preparing. After making the journey across the vastness of the Atlantic, he had immediately set out to bring mutants over to his side. After becoming aware of the presence of this powerful being that had the potential of posing a threat to him, he had decided it was definitely best that he did not set out on the quest of wiping out the human race alone. Using his incredible senses, he sought out mutants that when put together would have all the necessary power and skills to cause mass destruction. Over the past days, he had been moving through the vast expanses of American soil, keeping clear of the cities, and silencing any lesser beings who happened to cross his path, or who were unwilling to join him. He need not alert the humans to his presence just yet. Those who knew of his existence had either offered him their loyalty and service, or they had been crushed. Literally.  
  
So it was that Apocalypse had assembled a group of mutants formidable enough to bring down a city on their own. They were of all ages, and of all talents. The one thing they shared was the vision that their master had painted for him. That humanity was scum, and that, when the judgement day arrived, as Apocalypse prophesised it would, they, the mutants, would stand alone, and would rule alone. He preyed upon the minds of those who had suffered at the hands of humans, and promised them revenge, a place upon which they could project their anger. And in return, they gave him their loyalty, and as time went by, their very souls.  
  
They had set up base in the remote caves that lay in the middle of a dense forest. Where that forest was, or how far it was from civilization, nobody really knew. It didn't really matter, as travel was not a problem for Apocalypse and his mutants. He had commanded the building of weaponry, of arms from his group, and he himself built up seeds of hatred in their minds so strong that they were turned into people who would willingly kill. To enforce the fact, he took a small band of mutants away from the forest on the tenth day in isolation. He led them through the thickets of trees, knowing the way by instinct, and he brought them to a small lodge on the forest edge. He then watched from the trees as the men burned the house to the ground, with the family inside it. As the dying pleas of women and children reached his ears, even over the roar of the flames, the closest thing to a smile he could manage crossed over his face, spreading his gruesome lips thinly, and baring his excuse for teeth. The charred remains of the family were dragged out of the crumbling ruin, and the mutants cheered. They had completed their transition from prey to predator, and Apocalypse was convinced they were ready. It was time to show themselves to the world. He retreated back to the cave with his recruits, to make more plans.  
  
  
  
In comparison, life at Bedford High had been relatively quiet since the boys' escapade a fortnight ago. The girls had yet to do anything in retaliation, and even Pietro had abandoned his suspicions that they had all been forgiven a little to suddenly. Kitty, much to Rogue's disappointment, had continued to be friends with Lorna, perhaps even more enthusiastically than before, if that were possible. Every time the subject was brought up between the two of them, Kitty had refused to comment, and then turned away with a small smile on her lips that Rogue had been unable to see.  
  
She wasn't the only one who had been making friends outside the mutant circle though. Scott's friendship with Lydia had gone from strength to strength over the last two weeks, from sitting together in class and walking down hallways together, to being glued to one another's side all through the school day. The next step of course, was for one of the two to ask the other out on a date, and this was where Scott was hesitant. He'd had bad luck with girls his whole life, particularly with girls he actually liked. He'd faced years of Jean flaunting Duncan Matthews in front of him, and a heartbreaking rejection from Rogue. So, understandably, he was a little reluctant to lay his heart out on the guillotine one more time.  
  
He'd voiced these concerns in the most masculine way possible, to Todd and Fred. They both listened attentively to what he had to say, then gave each other identical looks that made Scott feel like the worlds biggest pansy.  
  
'So, you're worried about getting your heart broken again?' Todd asked, in answer to which Scott nodded his head reluctantly.  
  
'But you've never even been on a date with her before?' Fred said, causing another nod from Cyclops's direction.  
  
'And you're scared of rejection if you ask her out, even though you've practically been living with each other these past two weeks?' Todd asked, raising his eyebrows in bewilderment. Scott again answered in the positive.  
  
Fred and Todd looked at each other again, looking like a little and large double act. 'You big old woman.' They both declared at the same time, confirming what Scott had suspected, that they knew each other way too well.  
  
'Of course she likes you, you daft prat, she's probably getting really fed up of you working up the nerve to actually ask her out.' Fred said, nodding knowingly.  
  
'Go ask her.' Todd said. 'Ask if she wants to go to the movies, see a show, have dinner, have your children, whatever just ask her, and stop pussy footing around!' Before Scott had the chance to protest, Fred levered him up from the bench where they were sitting, and gave him a rather forceful shove in the direction of Lydia, busy reading under a tree nearby. Scott looked back to the bench several times on the way over to her, fidgeting with his now rather sticky palms, and feeling embarrassed for getting so nervous about just asking a girl out.  
  
'Hey, Lydia' he said, standing above her. He put a hand lightly to his cheek for a moment, and then pulled it away, realising he was blushing. Bloody hell, he thought to himself, as he pulled himself into a seating position in the space Lydia had made for him.  
  
If she noticed his discomfort, she didn't show it. 'Hey yourself' she replied easily, spreading her French textbook out in front of him. 'I was just finishing the French assignment. Whoever thought up the principals of French verbs needs a good kick up the..'  
  
'Do you want to go out sometime?' Scott gulped out, like he had the hiccoughs or something uncontrollable. Lydia stopped in mid sentence and looked at him in surprise, a smile gracing her pretty face.  
  
'Sure.' She said, causing Scott to both sag in relief, yet grow with happiness.  
  
'Great' he said, trying not to make it sound like the sigh of satisfaction it was. 'Um, movies, um tomorrow, um, four?' he said, hoping to stick in something like dinner afterwards, but finding he didn't quite have enough words in his vocabulary.  
  
'Um, sure.' Lydia responded, chuckling slightly as she grabbed her books to her and rose to go. 'We could get some dinner afterwards too. I was beginning to wonder if you liked me at all you know, I thought you were never going to ask me out.' She flashed another smile at him, and walked away still grinning. Scott let out the breath he'd been holding in for the past few moments, and found a silly grin upon his own face. Turning round, he could see Fred and Todd in the distance, both thumbs held up high in the air.  
  
  
  
Kitty was at that moment, like Scott, making her own plans. Leaning back on the well trimmed lawn, she shaded her eyes from the sunlight, and listened as well as she could to whatever crap was coming out of Lorna's mouth at that moment in time. Now that she knew what the girl was up to, she had come to the conclusion that Lorna was shallow, a bitch, and had the conversational skills of a stuttering hyena, with the laugh to match. As if on cue, the other girl threw back her head and let loose a cackle that she probably believed to be a tinkle of laughter.  
  
'Pah' thought Kitty to herself, 'fat bloody chance'. It had been a chore having to cope with Lorna and her entourage these past few days, pretending to be completely devoted to them, and unaware of what they actually thought of her. She had been putting so much effort into it, that she suspected she appeared even more enthusiastic about her new friends than before she'd found out they were using her, and therefore weren't her friends at all. More than once, she'd caught Rogue and Lance exchanging worried glances when they listened to her talk, before saying cautiously how great it was that she'd found such good friends. Lance had been behaving like he was walking on eggshells since he had led the expedition of the guys that night, and Rogue too had been wary when the subject of Lorna had been approached.  
  
In truth, Kitty was quite happy with deceiving the two of them like this. She felt a bit more than a twinge of humiliation when she remembered that both Lance and Rogue had warned her against Lorna's intentions. She wanted to get her back all on her own, as though this in some way could make up for the mistake she had made earlier.  
  
Sighing slightly, Kitty dragged herself back to the conversation that was taking place around her. She had to admit, she enjoyed this part of her friendship with Lorna. The girls were strewn about across a patch of lawn, which left them visible to most the people eating their lunch, giving them a great view of what was going on around them. Almost every eye around them had at some point turned in her direction, allowing her to bask in the feeling of finally being noticed. Then there was also the appearance of some majorly cute jocks that streamed by their spot every few minutes, sitting down to flirt and make small talk with the girls.  
  
When this happened, Kitty saw with a smirk that Lance was lurking in the shadows of the building, watching the offending males with an evil sort of look on his face. At one point, she hadn't been able to resist throwing him a little wave and a grin, and she'd received death glares all that evening, which only a few timely kisses on her part could dispel. This part of being popular, she could get used to. However, if it meant being around Lorna for more than five seconds, she didn't think she wanted to get used to it.  
  
'So I was saying' Lorna said, flipping her hair back for the fiftieth time, 'I think next Friday would be the best day for it. I'm going away with my parents this weekend,' she rolled her eyes at this, 'still, maybe if I put in the time, they'll get me that boat I spotted the other day.' At this the girls surrounding her tried their best to find an expression between sympathy and encouragement, and most failed miserably. Kitty hoped that one of them would mention what the 'it' actually was, because she wouldn't actually have to admit to Lorna that she hadn't been hanging on her every word.  
  
She was saved from saying anything by a particularly enthusiastic follower erupting in excitement. She clapped her hands together and squealed with delight, 'I love slumber parties! Especially the ones you throw Lorna!' the obvious attempt at flattery made Kitty want to retch, but Lorna just smiled graciously.  
  
'Well, it'll be fun I'm sure.' Then she surprised everyone by turning to face Kitty, and speaking to her directly. It was rare that Lorna actually picked someone out to talk to. 'What about you Pryde, you coming?' she made it sound like something Kitty would be out of her mind to turn down. She fought the urge to sneer, and nodded enthusiastically to Lorna.  
  
'Sure, it sounds like, a complete blast!' she said with as much spirit as she could muster, and Lorna nodded slightly, seeming satisfied that Kitty was still one of her minions. The bell rang to signal the end of lunch, and the girls rose leisurely to go. Kitty was fortunate enough not to have any classes with her new 'friends', and headed away in the opposite direction, after getting the time and place of the slumber party from Lorna. Honestly, she thought to herself, she would have expected Lorna and her gang to be throwing a wild type of all nighter where everyone present got absolutely drowned in alcohol.  
  
She fell in line behind a couple of girls who had been throwing glares in the general direction of her and her group all lunch time, and hid herself so she wouldn't be spotted by them. She supposed with a shrug of her shoulders that a slumber party would give her a pile of opportunities to extract her revenge on Lorna.  
  
In front of her, one of the girls leant in to speak to her friend, having finally caught on to Kitty's presence. 'One of Lorna Baker's minions, follower of that dyed hair tart.' She said, as the other giggled. They looked back at Kitty again and increased their pace.  
  
Behind them, Kitty looked far from affronted. Far from it, she actually looked pleased, and fought back an urge to laugh. Yes, this slumber party definitely presented her with opportunities for revenge.  
  
  
  
The teenagers gathered around the table that night, launching into their meal with eagerly. Mystique watched them with a satisfied feeling. They were really beginning to settle in to life in their new environment. She watched as Todd got a stray pea from the table, and used his fork to flick it in the direction of Scott. Still, they remained children through and through. She ignored the inevitable food fight that was brewing on that half of the table; sure that Kurt would soon be in the thick of it. She instead looked up the table to where Rogue was sat, talking quietly and contentedly with Pietro. The tension she had noticed between the two of them had dissipated over the fortnight, and things were pretty much back to normal.  
  
She was pleased to see Rogue looking happy and content, but there was still something about her that suggested unease, almost like she was waiting for something. She saw no actual sign that the unease was there; it was more a sense she got. At least she could say now that she knew her daughter fairly well. She was interrupted by the flying potatoes that were crossing her line of vision. As suspected, Kurt and Tabby had involved themselves whole-heartedly in the fight. She was doomed to always have a younger daughter who acted older than her age, and an older son who acted a whole lot younger than her was. Still, she was glad to say that she had the son and daughter. Finally.  
  
It didn't stop her reaching across and whipping the bottle of tomato sauce out of Kurt's hand. He looked up at the stern face above him, and lowered the bottle reluctantly. 'Dammit mom, you're no fun.' He said, pretending to sulk. As Mystique turned away, he took the opportunity to squirt some of the sauce onto Todd's seat, before the other boy sat back down, grinning to himself in a way that attracted no suspicion, since Kurt was usually grinning to himself.  
  
The food fight would have been brought to a halt anyway, by the discussion that had come about between Lance and Kitty. 'You're going, where?' Lance asked, looking slightly bewildered. Next to him, Kitty nodded emphatically.  
  
'Yes, at Lorna's place next Friday, is that like, a problem for you.' She arched her eyebrow, and Lance missed entirely the amusement that was hidden in her face.  
  
'No' he spluttered, 'it's just that, well,' he fought for a way to explain what he was thinking, without making Kitty too mad.  
  
'You were hoping to get an invite too?' Pietro suggested innocently, sitting across from him. Lance kicked him under the table. It had long been known that, since Lance had suggested to Lorna that perhaps she had undergone some surgery on some certain parts, he was out of favour with Miss Baker and her court. That hadn't gone down too well with Kitty either, and she was now forbidden by Lorna to hang around with Lance at school. Much to his chargrin, she had agreed, seeing him only when Lorna wasn't watching.  
  
'You'll be doing, girl stuff.' He finished lamely, and the rest of the table burst into sniggers.  
  
'No,' Pietro said, throwing both hands to his face in horror, 'Girls? Doing girl stuff? At a slumber party? Imagine that!' rogue hit him lightly on the arm, but her eyes were dancing with humour.  
  
'That's not what I meant!' Lance protested, eyeing his best friend furiously. 'I meant that you'll be doing things like truth or dare, you'll be talking and giggling about those jocks that follow that group around. Maybe even meeting with them, and, and doing things with them!' he shuddered at the thought, and the table burst into laughter. Even Kitty couldn't hold back the giggles.  
  
She took his chin in her hands, and rubbed her nose against his. 'You are so adorable sometimes!' she cooed. Lance gave a half smile, unsure of whether this was a good thing, or something very damaging to his reputation.  
  
'So does that mean you won't go?' he asked hopefully.  
  
In answer, Kitty kissed him once more, then got up and walked out the room, pausing on her way out to reply with 'You aren't that adorable!'  
  
Lance cleared his plate out the way, and banged his head repeatedly on the table, looking around at the others for sympathy. 'I just can't win!' he exclaimed, 'she drives me crazy.' He never said that it wasn't a good thing.  
  
Scott stretched his arms wide, before rising too from the table. 'I'm off too, gotta go make a phone call.' He was barely out of his chair before Todd was catcalling.  
  
'Ooh, phoning Lydia are we? Making plans for the big date are we?' he said, and he and Fred both broke into more laughter. Scott glared at them both, his face now colouring to match his shades.  
  
Next to Kurt, Tabby leaned forward. 'Oooh, is this that Lydia he keeps hanging round with at school?' she asked keenly. Fred nodded in the affirmative, and prepared to spill the details.  
  
Scott put his hands over his ears. 'I'm not listening to this.' He walked quickly through the door, and Todd rose to call after him.  
  
'Don't go proposing just yet Scotty Poo!' He crowed, knowing by the frustrated sound that followed that he'd been heard. He then realised that he had an unfamiliar feeling on his behind, something almost damp, and reached his hand behind him just as Tabby burst into fits of hysterics, and a bampf sound announced that Kurt had left the room.  
  
No matter where he'd gone, he would probably still have heard the cries of 'Damn you, you big blue elf.' That now rang through the house.  
  
  
  
  
  
The three girls went to bed fairly early that evening, especially for a Friday night. They'd said their good nights in a fairly short space of time, all following each other up the stairs with exchanged glances and supressed giggles. Once they had shut themselves in the room, and made completely sure that there were no eavesdroppers outside the door, they settled themselves in the middle of the floor, with no intention of going to sleep for a good while yet.  
  
Rogue and Kitty both looked to Tabby expectantly. The blonde had indicated that they go upstairs a few moments ago, and both girls now knew she was ready to reveal her plans for payback. In response to their movements, Tabby leant forward, relishing the attention, and outlined in detail her complicated plan for revenge.  
  
By the time she had finished, both Rogue and Kitty were sitting there with their jaws hanging wide open. 'You're kidding!' Kitty exclaimed, throwing her hands to her face.  
  
Rogue was a little more vocal in her protests, looking at Tabby with a mixture of amusement and disbelief. 'As er, thorough as that may sound Tabby, I just don't think that hanging them from the school flagpole stark naked is really all that practical, plus it sounds like an awful lot of work.'  
  
'Yeah' Kitty agreed, her ponytail bobbing as she nodded her head in agreement. Whilst both girls were looking for revenge, they weren't really thinking to that degree.  
  
'We don't want to completely humiliate them,' Rogue mused, whilst trying to calm a rather disappointed looking Tabby, 'we just want to have a bit of fun at their expense.'  
  
Tabby was still looking a little put out, like a small child who had been taken into a candy store, only to be told that they were now on a sugar free diet. 'Can't we have a little humiliation?' she asked, her lower lip sticking out.  
  
'Well,' Rogue said reluctantly, 'I suppose I could say, use my powers to like, do stuff to them in public.'  
  
'Like make them suddenly be butt naked in the middle of the street?' Tabby questioned, her eyes gleaming hopefully.'  
  
'Must there always be nakedness in these plans?' Kitty said, eyebrow raised.  
  
'Yes' Tabby responded solemnly, 'in true humiliation, there must always be nakedness.'  
  
'Well then there will be no humiliation.' Rogue said firmly, 'Nobody but me sees Pietro naked.' She stopped for a moment, then considered what it was that she just said, and immediately coloured, 'Not that I have, or that I'd want to, or that I wouldn't, I mean, but that isn't the point!' she finished, her face now beet red.  
  
Tabby and Kitty giggled 'well I guess that proves me wrong, sometimes nakedness isn't required,' Tabby choked out between laughter, as Rogue smiled somewhat reluctantly at the situation, before swatting half heartedly at her brothers girlfriend.  
  
'Ok' Tabby relented, 'we can do something else. What you said, about having fun, it kind of gives me a new idea.' She seemed to be working out the finer points in her head, and Rogue and Kitty waited eagerly for her new, slightly less drastic plan.  
  
'Rogue, those powers you have, do you have the power of like, icing things, like Bobby?' Tabby asked, her grin widening as Rogue answered in the affirmative. 'And, can you use those powers to a large extent?' again, Rogue nodded her head, and Tabby's grin now stretched from ear to ear.  
  
'In that case' she said, smiling wickedly, 'I think I have a new plan. It's time we had some fun, and the boys learnt a little lesson in the true meaning of confinement!'  
  
It was some hours later when things were put into motion. The door to the girls' room cracked open silently, and three figures made their way carefully along the hallway. First they paused at Todd and Fred's room, and pushed their way in with the minimum amount of noise. Kitty, hell bent on not succumbing to giggles, went quickly to their desk, and placed a small piece of paper on it, before again slipping out the door. Tabby followed a few moments later, and Rogue was waiting outside the door. When she saw the two girls moving off down the hall to Lance and Pietro's room, she touched her hand lightly to the pendant round her neck, and felt the power flowing through her. When her work was down, she joined the other two outside the second bedroom, and repeated the process.  
  
The last room they came to was that of Kurt and Scott. They had saved this till last, because of the fact that the two boys posed the greatest threat to their plans. Kitty and Tabby again split up upon entering the room, each moving to the bedside of the boys. Kitty paused next to Scott, trying again not to laugh at the sight of him drooling a little bit whilst he was sleeping. She reached down, and in the gentlest way possible, removed his glasses from his dreaming face. After a quick search of Scott's closet, she found his battle visor, and pocketed that along with the glasses. Looking across the room, she saw that Tabby had slipped Kurt's watch from his wrist, and was now adding that to the bag she had insisted on taking with her on their little expedition. What she had in their, Kitty shuddered to think, but it was now pretty much full to the brim. Tabby saw her looking, and touched a finger to her nose lightly. Kitty rolled her eyes, and the two left the room to meet Rogue.  
  
After finishing her work on the room, Rogue gave the others a satisfied nod, and motioned for them to leave the house, and move outside to work on the bedroom windows. It was a good half an hour later when they returned to their own room, and finally began to settle down. The sun was already beginning to find its way into the sky, and light was slowly returning to the world.  
  
Kitty rubbed her eyes blearily. 'What now?' she asked, watching her two friends half asleep, too tired to be triumphant at the moment.  
  
This was not true for Tabby, who leant back on her bedclothes and gave a satisfied smirk. 'Now, we wait.'  
  
  
  
'We wait for what?'  
  
Mark Mitchall had been living in the woodland base for a week now. Apocalypse had rescued him from a group of farmers, who had treated him like an animal, or a machine. Mark was one of the more physically affected mutants in the group. Where arms should have been, he found that he had large steel blades grafted to the stumps that were the reminders of his humanity. Sharp and jagged, they could slice through the thickest of tree trunks as easily as ripping a piece of tissue paper. This was why, the men said, he had been spared and not killed for being the monster that he was. As one of them put it, between harsh chuckles, he saved on equipment costs, being able cut down the trees so easily. He had been hidden away from the world when he was not working, told that others would flinch to look upon his face.  
  
When he had been with the farmers, he had believed that his mutation had been a curse, something that made him a lesser being. But Apocalypse had shown that, far from a curse, he had a gift. He was not a lesser being anymore, he was not a subhuman. He was above men.  
  
The farmers had been killed of course. They had deserved it, for so many years of torturing him, for making him believe in these lies.  
  
And now he waited, with the rest of the mutants, for their master to speak. Mark was slightly curious to see what the reason for this meeting was, as Apocalypse had never called one so late at night, nor so urgent sounding before. They never actually addressed him as Apocalypse out loud, instead referring to him as 'master', 'lord', or even 'divine one'. Mark believed solely in his leaders power to deliver to them all what they deserved, and to pass judgement and justice on those who had done wrong. He would do what his master said, no matter what.  
  
Next to him, Jason shook his head distractedly, and shrugged his shoulders a little. He didn't know Jason's last name, he didn't know anyone's last name here actually, nor did they know his. The base and group wasn't about forming old fashioned, men like friendships with your fellow mutants. It was about uniting for one purpose, the purpose of destruction. Still, he admitted silently that he had formed a better bond with Jason than some of the others. Jason was blessed with the power to melt most solid metals with the touch of his hand. Previously a professional bank robber, he had joined Apocalypse on the run from some of his fellow thieves who had found out just how he found his way into bank vaults. He was, if possible, even more resentful than Mark was towards the men who had done him wrong, and when he was not learning the art of detached hatred from the lord, he was brooding on his own personal revenge, against those he had once counted as friends.  
  
Apocalypse had given them no hint as to what the meeting was about, telling them they must learn the art of patience and waiting. He did not leave them hanging for two long though, as soon their leader entered the main chamber of their base, and surveyed his small army with grim satisfaction. He took a deep breath, and launched into speech.  
  
'My followers' (he would never address them as his fellows or equals, though they never noticed), 'the day has finally come upon us! The day when we shall finally reveal ourselves to the putrid world of men, and they shall know what it feels to fall to their knees and tremble with terror. We leave now, and embark on the first steps of our noble quest to a better world. Tonight, we head to the first destination on our conquest. In a town not many miles away from here, there lies a place where mutants like us live and work in the world of men, they believe' he said, pausing to inject further scorn and disgust into his words, 'they believe that man and mutant can work together, can live in harmony!'  
  
The mutants around him laughed menacingly, and some shook their heads disbelievingly. Apocalypse continued, knowing that they were eating out the palm of their hand. He nodded to show he understood their sentiments, and spoke again. 'They run their operations from a special school, a boarding place for the younger mutants. Well, I say it is time we went to educate them!' this time heads were nodding enthusiastically, and the masses laughed even louder. 'We shall pay these mutants a visit, and you shall do whatever you feel necessary to persuade them to join our cause. If they must refuse, you will kill them, in whichever way you choose.' This time the shouted agreement was slightly less riotous. So far, nobody had considered the possibility of killing other mutants. People like them.  
  
'You must understand, that those who sympathise with the men, are no better than the men. They would rather see you suffer and be preyed upon, rather than harm one hair on a 'normal' human beings head. For this, they must pay the ultimate penalty.' Even though he was explaining himself, he knew that he would meet no opposition. The faces around him were now not only willing to do the deed, but they believed it to be right.  
  
'The school, and the surrounding town, is yours to do with it what you will. Plunder it, kill those who live in it, do whatever you feel will announce to the world that we will no longer let ourselves be treated as if we are less than the common man!' again, cheers washed over the walls like waves on the shore. Apocalypse held up his hand for silence.  
  
'I ask only one thing of you. There is a mutant in the school. Though he is incapacitated, do not be fooled, for he resides over the running of this institute. Despite frail appearances the old man has great power. Let me deal with him, and me alone.' After seeing understanding dawn on the faces of his followers, he decided to wrap up the speech, and begin the journey to destruction.  
  
'And so, onward we go. We will see them run, we will smell their blood and their fear, and we will hear them beg for mercy. Will we deliver it?' he asked, baiting them.  
  
'NO!' they responded, cheering and clapping louder than ever, and now stamping their feet in approval. With that said, the man gathered up their torches and weapons, and began to thread their way through the trees, working to find their destination that lay a full days journey from now, where the massacre would finally begin, and the judgement day would dawn.  
  
  
  
Bedford Falls was now drenched in early sunlight. It seeped through the windowpanes, and struck Lance in the face as he lay sleeping on his bed. He stirred slightly, and unconsciously moved his arm to his face to protect him from the rays. A few seconds later, he was rubbing his eyes, and fully engrossed in the process of waking up.  
  
He dragged his body into a sitting position, glancing across the room to where Pietro was doing exactly the same thing. Lance mumbled something that vaguely resembled 'morning', and got fully out of bed to find his way to the bathroom. It was then he noticed something very odd about the shards of light that were covering his blanket. It was as though someone had taken a hammer to a light beam, and smashed it into a million pieces. Now fully alert, he followed the broken beam to the window, where he saw it was completely frosted over.  
  
He looked back to Pietro in bewilderment, 'erm, was it really cold last night or something?' he asked, watching his friends sleepy face become just as confused looking as he felt. Pietro sprung lightly from the bed and joined Lance at the window. Together, they tried to force it open to see what the scene was now like outside, but try as they might, the window would not budge.  
  
Pietro looked at Lance, panting slightly with exertion at trying to force the glass open. 'This is weird, I'll go see what things are like in the other's rooms.' Lance stayed watching the spidery threads of frost and ice on the windows, and it was a few seconds later when he heard Pietro cry out slightly in surprise. He turned round, and saw that the door had been opened, but it did them no good whatsoever, because right outside was a wall of ice not even Lance could knock down with as Avalanche.  
  
He swore loudly, and the two boys conducted a search of the room in alarm, knowing now that this was no freak of nature. A few minutes later, and they turned up something. On the desk, there was a small folded up piece of paper, which was addressed to both of them in what looked to be Rogue's handwriting. Pietro snatched up the paper, and Lance looked over his shoulder to read what was written there.  
  
Morning boys! We know you haven't forgotten about your little adventure, and neither have we. That's why we thought today we'd have a little outing of our own. And just to make sure you stay and home and behave, we've made sure that this is the only place you can go! We hope you will take this opportunity to think very hard about what you all did, and we'll share with you what happened when we get back this evening, if the ice has melted by then!  
  
See ya! R, K & T  
  
PS: the bathroom remains accessible, even we aren't that cruel!  
  
  
  
At that point in time, the girls were in fact getting ready to leave the house. As Kitty reached for her bag, she heard a sudden eruption of curse words from the rooms above her, with the occasional outburst of 'Took my watch!' she looked at her friends, and they burst into laughter, doubling up with giggle fits.  
  
'Come on' Rogue said, linking arms and smiling at the other two girls, 'let's go before they figure out we're still in the house.' They were in the process of opening the door, when they heard footsteps on the stairs.  
  
'Going somewhere?' a cold voice said. Turning slowly, the girls saw Mystique standing on the stairs, looking pointedly at the three of them.  
  
'I hope you realise' she said slowly, continuing to walk downwards, 'the damage all that ice might cause the building, which you of course will have to repair.' The girls nodded, looking at her hopefully.  
  
'In that case' she carried on, the corners of her mouth turning up, 'let's get going.' She held up a bag she'd been holding behind her back, and in the blink of the eye transformed into a woman about to head on a day out with her daughter and her friends.  
  
The daughter in question and her friends blinked at her stupidly, and she shrugged her shoulders at them. 'What? You expect me to wait about the house all day and listen to the six of them beg for mercy? Let's go!'  
  
It was as they were locking the door that the boys first began to complain that their clothes were missing. The females outside the house looked accusingly at Tabby, who held her hands up in surrender.  
  
'Well you said there could be a little humiliation!' she protested. They broke into laughter again, and were still chortling as they drove away from the house, leaving the men locked inside.  
  
  
  
'They've been gone for hours now,' Kurt said miserably, his blue tail drooping to the floor. Scott looked up from where he'd been sitting dismally on the other bed. As the hours had passed, the boys had found themselves going from being shocked, to panicking wildly, to being fairly angry and stumping their toes kicking the bed, to trying and failing to escape, to grudgingly accepting that they were doomed to stay here till the girls returned. Scott had his eyes closed, as he had done for the whole day, and Kurt's fuzzy blue hair was standing on end from the slight chill that radiated from the frozen door. Their heating had been turned up full blast, which went someway to cancelling the effect of the ice, but it didn't get rid of it fully.  
  
Kurt had of course ported out the room, and had been to see the other boys, who were all in the same predicament. He'd checked on the overall situation as well, and reported to the others that Rogue's icing over of the doors had certainly been well done. And whilst he may be able to escape the house, he was a fuzzy blue elf who hadn't a hope in hell of getting them out. He could have ported into town to find them, but imagining the look and reaction of the public if a little blue man suddenly appeared in the middle of the street, he pretty much ruled that option out. He had suggested to Scott that he just blast everyone out, but without his visor, Cyclops could make no promises that the building would still be in tact by the time he had done.  
  
'Wow' Todd admitted reluctantly, 'they certainly thought this out.'  
  
'Yeah' Kurt agreed, 'if it had been Tabby alone, she probably would have just stripped us naked and hung up our underwear in front of the school.'  
  
'And there's no chance of the ice melting any time soon?' Lance had asked hopefully, when Kurt had bampfed in to see them, catching the two boys in the middle of a discussion over the dreadful things their girlfriends could possibly be up to.  
  
Kurt shook his head, and stopped Lance from doing something violent by pressing a can of beer into his hand that he'd taken from the kitchen. Lance drunk it in what was possibly a record time, and went back to imagining what Kitty could be doing at that point in time.  
  
It had been a while since Kurt had left the room now. He'd delivered the stereo to Fred and Todd after they'd made him promise to do so (when Fred was desperate, you didn't dare refuse to get him anything), and was now lounging on the bed, making sure Scott was OK, being that he was effectively blind for the day.  
  
'Shit!' his friend exclaimed, sitting up in bed suddenly and tensing his shoulders, which were still clad in pyjamas. He looked morose, as if something absolutely terrible had just happened.  
  
'What?' Kurt said, jumping up and crossing the room, afraid that he'd opened his eyes back accident or something. Scott looked to be fine however, and there were no scorch marks on the walls or ceiling, so he assumed that it was something else.  
  
'Lydia' Scott responded simply, running a hand blindly through his hair. He seemed to notice even with his eyes closed that Kurt required further explanation. 'I had a date with Lydia for four today, and if we've been in here for hours, then it must be..'  
  
'About half four' Kurt confirmed grimly, looking at the small clock on Scott's bedside, only after glancing at his bare wrist, as if he expected the watch to still be there.  
  
Scott swore again, and collapsed back onto the bed with a mournful sound, turning over to bury his miserable, blinded face in his hands. Kurt went back to his own bed, knowing that the girls had gotten them back fully this time.  
  
  
  
  
  
The girls of course, had no idea of the trouble they had just caused Scott. With Mystique in tow, they were heading down the little high street of Bedford, laden with shopping bags full of absolutely useless purchases. They passed the cinema, and saw Lydia waiting outside of it, her arms folded and her face caught in the depths of displeasure. She looked pretty pissed off.  
  
Rogue waved to her in greeting. Although Lydia was only a friend of a friend, she had always seemed nice and friendly, and definitely wasn't a bitch like Lorna and her friend's were. Rogue enjoyed watching how happy Scott was to find a true friend, and maybe something more, and felt good to see how he had settled in to his new environment.  
  
Lydia saw them and waved distractedly, and the girls made their way over to her. 'Hey' Rogue called out, 'what are you doing here on your own?'  
  
She seemed to have hit a nerve, because Lydia's frown deepened, and her folded arms tightened even more. 'Oh, well I was waiting for someone, I'm not anymore.' She looked up at the clock, which now read half past five. She thought for a moment, and then struggled to make her face more impassive. 'Have you seen Scott at all today?' she asked lightly, chin raised in the air a little.  
  
Tabby responded, smirking. 'Oh, he's been rather um, indisposed today!' she said, before giggling a little. Lydia looked at them questioningly, before waving a goodbye, and disappearing down the street.  
  
Rogue pondered her departure for only a moment, before following the others, who were making a beeline for a pizza place up the street, Mystique in the lead. Rogue shook her head wonderlingly as she watched her mother worm her way through the people. Mystique had acted about ten or twenty years younger than she actually was today, flirting with men on the beach they had been to this morning, and spending a huge some of money on clothes and other useless items for them all. Rogue wondered if she'd been waiting for years to let her hair down like this, and was sort of glad to see her mother acting so human.  
  
This had been in a café in the afternoon, and when Mystique had seen Rogue smiling at her, she had returned the gesture, making the two of them feel closer than they had before.  
  
But seeing her mother flirting with the guy who hired out beach equipment brought another question to Rogue's head. Just who was her father? Did she and Kurt even have the same father? Of course, today wasn't the time to ask about it, and bring up whatever memories the idea of her dad stirred in Mystique. She instead decided to bring up the subject of her father with Kurt when she got home that night. If he was still actually speaking to her.  
  
Now, as they headed towards the restaurant entrance, she abandoned thoughts of bigger things, and carried on enjoying the day being young and stupid with her friends and family.  
  
Mystique had a quick word with the guy on the entrance, a man in his very early twenties, probably a student in the nearby college getting weekend work. He was actually pretty handsome, his dark hair and typical Italian type good looks were in all likelihood what had recommended him for the job.  
  
He finished his conversation with Mystique, and then he pushed past Rogue and Kitty, and stopped at Tabby, producing a flower he'd taken from the display at the entrance.  
  
'Happy birthday, lovely lady!' he enthused in a hokey Italian accent. Tabby took the flower in confusion.  
  
'It's my..' she trailed of with a question in her voice, and then looking at Mystique, she caught on. 'Oh yes, it's my birthday!' she said, causing the poor waiter to look a little surprised.  
  
He recovered quickly, and led them to a round table in the centre of the room, where other members of the staff were hastily tying balloons to chairs, and placing decorations on the table. The waiter made a great show of pulling out chairs for them all, which they sat down in, surpressing laughter.  
  
They were handed menus, and the man leant low in a small bow, 'My name is Mario' he said, his accent becoming more pronounced with each word, 'and anything I can do for you lovely ladies will be my pleasure.'  
  
He was about to leave and let them deliberate on their choice, when Mystique held him back. 'Can we have two bottles of your finest champagne please, especially as we are celebrating a drinking age birthday!' she said, daring him to argue. Looking a teensy bit doubtful at whether this was actually the case, Mario backed down at Mystique's stare, and went to the bar to carry out the order.  
  
Rogue looked worriedly at Mystique, because of the price of champagne, but Mystique gave her a reassuring glance, and shook her head. 'It's all right' she said warmly, 'my treat. Besides, it wouldn't be complete revenge if we didn't drink just a little bit.'  
  
'Give me a minute.' Tabby said, before launching herself from the table and over to where Mario stood, now lining up glasses on the counter. She seemed to have thrown herself into the role of birthday girl, and she leant across the counter to whisper into the poor waiters ear something that no one else could hear. Mario's eyes bulged, and he put the glass in his hand on the counter with unsteady hands. Nodding at the girl, he looked across at them and shouted 'free champagne for the birthday girl!'  
  
Tabby sashayed back to the table, smiling sunnily at them, and sat herself back down merrily. Rogue rolled her eyes in amusement, and Kitty looked scandalised.  
  
'You can't do things like that!' she squealed, 'you like, have a boyfriend!'  
  
'Not so loud!' Tabby said, leaning in to speak to Kitty quietly, and hoping the waiting staff didn't hear. 'Loads of girls flirt with waiters in restaurants, and you know, we are supposed to be having fun today, so just forget about the boys. I'm not going to actually do anything with him you know, and look, we got free champagne!'  
  
Kitty looked upwards to see Mario standing there with the champagne in his arms, looking at Tabby like a dog who'd just played fetched with it's master, and was now waiting to be told what a good boy it was.  
  
'Is everything all right miss?' he asked, letting his eyes stray from Tabby to Kitty. The latter looked at her friends egging her on, and then sighed slightly, before fluttering her eyelashes, and looking at the guy before her with a dreamy expression. 'Everything's just perfect thank you.' She said, and then she couldn't help herself laughing as the unfortunate victim stumbled away in a semi daze.  
  
An hour later, the girls were in the midst of devouring an amazingly large amount of ice cream. Licking her spoon clean, Rogue watched dizzily as Mario came back to their table for the fiftieth time that night. Leaning between Tabby and Kitty, he smiled at them, and said something which was either very funny, or which, in their present state, was not funny but enough to crack the two of them up anyway. He looked up at Rogue with disinterest, as she hadn't really paid much attention to him that night. 'Miss' he said, 'there is a caller for you'.  
  
'Really?' Rogue asked in surprise, 'how do you know?' she was pretty sure, even after the large amount of champagne they had drunk, that she had never given the guy her name.  
  
Mario shrugged his shoulders. 'They ask for the one with the stripes in her hair, it is pretty obvious no?' he said, and then turned back to the other two girls, as Rogue rose from the table and went to find the phone, gathering herself. Who knew she was actually at the restaurant?  
  
She was even more surprised to see that the phone Mario had spoken of was in fact a pay phone. Clearly they hadn't been the only ones drinking, if the waiter had failed to spot this fact. Already quite sure of who was on the other end, Rogue picked up the receiver, and spoke nervously.  
  
'Hello?' she said, feeling weird for speaking like this into a payphone.  
  
Surprise surprise, the voice than replied was the one who had spoken to her the night the massacre in the desert had occurred. 'He is coming, and the day of battle will approach soon enough. Choices must be made, and everything hangs in the balance.'  
  
This was no clearer to Rogue than it had been the first time, and she tried again to get some sort of reason from the voice. 'Who is coming? Why am I so important in all this? Please tell me what is going on?'  
  
'Now is not the time.' it replied, somewhat reluctantly. 'Before you know of what you are and what takes place around you, you must face him indirectly. He is coming, and you must do what you can to save those who cross his path.'  
  
Rogue felt like she was going nowhere. 'Please' she said, begging slightly, 'please tell me who it is I must face indirectly.'  
  
'He is Apocalypse, and on the day of the final battle, it is you who holds the key to the judgement day. We shall speak again.' The phone went blank.  
  
Rogue waited a few moments before going back to the table, and sat in a state of semi shock all the way through the remainder of the meal, laughing only briefly when an eager Mario gave his number to Kitty and Tabby. She was still not really any better informed as to what the caller was talking about, but by the things they said, she knew it would be long before she found out what was going on. It just had to happen to her, didn't it?  
  
  
  
  
  
It was about eight o clock when the girls pulled into the driveway that evening. Rogue melted the already dripping ice, and the boys stepped out of the rooms they'd been imprisoned in all day. They didn't know whether to be mad at the girls for inflicting the day of confinement on them or thankful for finally releasing them, and instead they moved off down to the kitchen to get some food, determined not to congratulate the girls on the success of their operation, and instead resolving to avoid the subject entirely until they decided to take their revenge or not. They couldn't really deny that they'd had it coming, and the thought it best to try and maintain at least a shred of dignity.  
  
Tabby handed back the glasses, visor and watch, and reluctantly gave back the clothes she'd taken. Some of the guys noticed a pair or two of their boxer shorts were missing, and didn't even want to ask where they'd gone.  
  
So, at about nine, after everyone had been fed and watered, the group positioned themselves in the sitting room, where the girls recounted in a still slightly tipsy manner all the things they'd gotten up to that day. The guys listened with frowns on their faces, and Scott shut himself in the room he'd already spent all day in, taking the phone with him. Rogue watched him go questioningly, but was too worried about the call at that moment to put two and two together.  
  
She didn't join in too much with the story, and leant back on Pietro's legs instead, who, slightly sulkily, allowed her to do so. When they got to the restaurant part of the day however, Pietro could feel his girlfriend tensing up, and leant forward with concern, all traces of anger forgotten. Something was very wrong.  
  
'Anyway' Tabby said, not noticing her friend's obvious discomfort, 'the whole place ended up singing happy birthday to me, which was great, only Rogue wasn't there because somebody rang her at the restaurant, which was way weird, but anyway, they made me this cake..'  
  
Rogue didn't stay to hear the end. She excused herself with a panicked look on her face, and fled up the stairs, not even hearing Kurt responding to Tabby's producing of the number she'd gotten from Mario. Pietro was right behind her, and by her side in an instant, as Rogue propped herself up against the wall, breathing heavily.  
  
Pietro put a hand on her shoulders, and took her in his arms. He was shocked to feel that she was trembling. He knew that it was happening again, that the same person had called her up, and this time he was determined to get the truth from her. It was time to bring the situation to a head.  
  
'It was the same person as it was the last time, wasn't it?' he murmured gently into her hair. He didn't want to use her vulnerable state against her, but he had to know the truth.  
  
She pulled away from him, a fearful look in her eyes. 'I told you before, that call was nothing. I'm just tired is all' She said lightly and desperately, knowing it wouldn't fool him. The whole room had noticed the way in which she had left, and he wasn't the only one who believed now that something was up with her.  
  
'It certainly wasn't nothing, and it wasn't some girl from school being mean to you. Come on Rogue; tell me who or what's bothering you, please? I just want to be there for you.' He said, pleading with her slightly.  
  
Rogue shook her head, and whispered something to herself. Pietro stepped forward with his hands out, fully aware that he was losing her, but determined not to let her escape without telling the truth. He couldn't cope with the fact that she would be lying to him, that she didn't trust him.  
  
Rogue was retreating, trying to speak. 'I just, I mean, it's nothing, I can handle it on my own,' she said, fumbling for an explanation.  
  
'Rogue please, just tell me why you're lying to me.' Pietro begged, hands clasped in front of him as if in prayer. Rogue was backed into the door now, looking absolutely terrified and torn between desire to shout back at him what was wrong, and the run for the hills. Words tried and failed to find their way to the surface, and then she jerked backwards, pushing the door open behind her.  
  
'I can't!' she cried, throwing herself into the darkness of the room, and shutting the door in Pietro's face. 'I can't tell the others, and I can't tell you. Just go, please' she said, as she locked the door from the inside, and felt him trying to force it open, shouting her name again and again. She sank to the floor against the door, pulling her knees up to her chest, her breaths becoming shuddered with tears. She felt suddenly very alone, having turned away one of the only people in the world she believed she could trust with anything. Why didn't she trust anyone with this? Why was everything going wrong again so soon? She had felt so content by coming here, by escaping everything and starting over, and being with Pietro. What was it that kept her from letting her get help, and that made her so worried over what the caller was saying?  
  
She felt cruel beyond belief by doing this to Pietro, as if keeping the truth from him and dealing with this on her on was in some way tearing her from him. Useless tears fell down her face, and she hit her head back against the door in despair.  
  
On the other side of the door, Pietro was pounding his fist on the wood, trying to break down the door with his shouting. 'Rogue please, don't shut me out! Don't lie to me!' he carried on and on, collapsing on his knees on the other side of the door, and feeling the wood in front of him separating the two of them like a terrible chasm opening up before him. They'd never fought before, never like this, and they'd never kept secrets from each other. But she was lying to him, they both knew it, and she was hiding things from him, things she didn't feel able to tell him. Why?  
  
It was a few moments later when Lance and a slightly more sober Kitty appeared in the hallway. The dark haired boy moved to help Pietro stand, he looked almost mad kneeling at the door, and he pulled him down the hall to their own room, with a worried glance in Kitty's direction. Kitty knocked on the door softly, and told Rogue it was her. A crack opened, and she slipped through into the room where Pietro had been denied access.  
  
In his own bedroom, Lance was trying to make some sense of his friend. 'She won't tell me, what could be so terrible that she won't tell me? I need to know, I want to help her, she could be in trouble, and she wouldn't let me in!' he gibbered, and Lance felt terrible for him. Pietro loved her, he would give her his body, his life and soul in a heartbeat. But Rogue was keeping something back from him, and it was coming between them. Lance put a hand on his shoulder lightly as the other boy calmed slightly, and stared into space with both pity for Pietro, and worry for what was bothering Rogue so much she couldn't tell the person she loved most in the world.  
  
  
  
It was much later that night. After Pietro had been taken away, Kitty had made some attempt to find out what was troubling Rogue. But her friend had been unresponsive, saying that she hated fighting, and wanted to go to bed. Kitty had relented, and Rogue had been asleep within five minutes. Kitty had watched her sleep for a moment at a loss as to what was going on, before informing the others that she was asleep. Now she too lay in slumber, without a clue as to what was going on in her friend's head.  
  
Rogue was lost in a world of dreams and visions. Before her, she saw burning houses and streets. She saw children running down the road, dancing in flame and crying out in pain. 'Mommy, mommy!' she heard, echoing around her, 'it's too hot, mommy!' there was so much screaming. And there was laughter too. Dark shapes moved through the fire as though they revelled in its heat. It's them, Rogue realised, watching from afar, it's them who are making the people scream. She swept through the streets and the carnage in a flurry of movement, and her eyes came to rest upon a building that was all too familiar. Students poured out of the Xavier institute, running for their lives, being chased by foul laughter. She watched as someone stumbled and fell to the ground, she couldn't make out their face. And as they tried to crawl away, their came a dark figure, getting closer and closer behind him. The figure raised his arm, and Rogue saw that attached to stumps from shoulders, there were long sharp blades, slicing through the air on their way to the person lying prone on the ground. She reached forward in her mind, to try and stop what was happening.  
  
Miraculously, the blade paused a couple of feet from its target, and the person to whom the arm belonged was thrown backwards into the rubble that was now the mansion in which Rogue had stayed. It was just what she'd been trying to do.  
  
In her amazement, Rogue opened her eyes, coming back to the world suddenly and abruptly. She felt tears on her cheeks that had fallen in her dream, and a slight warmth on her throat. She looked down, and gasped in surprise. Her pendant, still hanging around her neck, was glowing bright light, shining in the darkness and lighting up her face. It was then Rogue knew that this had been no dream. It was something that had happened, something that was happening, or something that was going to happen. Her heart ached, as she remembered the people she'd left behind in that place, and she threw herself out of bed, turning on the light switch without even touching it.  
  
Tabby and Kitty woke up a few moments later, dragged into consciousness by the glaring light. They watched in tired, near hangover confusion as Rogue began throwing things into a bag.  
  
'Where are you going?' Tabby asked blearily, amazed by the fact that anybody could be thinking of doing anything at a time like this.  
  
Rogue looked at them, a wild sort of fire in her eyes. 'The institute is in trouble,' she said, by way of explanation, 'I'm going back to Bayville.'  
  
DISCLAIMER: Characters and situation are property of Marvel and WB  
  
AUTHORS NOTE: Wow, sorry everyone, this is a really long chapter! If you want, I can separate them up a bit, let me know if you'd like to read smaller amounts at a time. As ever, thanks for reviewing, and keep doing so please!!! 


	6. A battle, and taking a step backwards

Chapter 6  
  
It was a moment or two before anybody in the bedroom said another words. Both Tabby and Kitty were watching Rogue throw things into her bag with jaws dropped and eyes bulging.  
  
Tabby was the first to snap out of it, looking at Kitty and saying 'I think I speak for the both of us when I say what the hell?'  
  
Rogue looked at her friend as if to roll her eyes, but she didn't answer. She went into the bathroom, clearly to continue packing.  
  
'Bur Rogue,' Kitty called out, rising from her bed finally with a bewildered look on her face, 'Why? You said you never wanted to go back there again.'  
  
Rogue's face appeared at the doorway, and she gave a resigned sigh. Obviously her friends were going to need some sort of explanation. It didn't have to be true of course, just an explanation.  
  
'I had a dream; I saw the institute and the town being attacked. And I know what you're going to say, it was probably just a dream, but it felt real.' Kitty closed the mouth that had just been about to speak, and Rogue pulled herself up to her full height, 'and I don't want to take the risk of believing it was just a dream. I have friends still at the institute, and I'm not going to risk not helping them.'  
  
Kitty held up her hand meekly. 'Are you absolutely convinced it wasn't just a dream you were having, because this has never happened before.'  
  
Rogue considered for a moment. Suppose she was just panicking, and over reacting quite dramatically to a simple nightmare. She tried to picture the scenes she had seen in her head, and attempted to recapture the feeling she had had as the images played out before her. She gave a nod of the head, certain that this wasn't all just a dream.  
  
There was another silence, more thoughtful than surprised this time, and when Tabby next spoke, it was with determination, and not shock.  
  
'All right, then we're coming with you.' She walked past Kitty, and started to throw things into her own bag. Kitty joined her after only a moment's hesitation.  
  
This time it was Rogue who was startled. 'You can't. I don't want to put you in danger, or waste your time if this really is just nothing.'  
  
'Shut up.' Tabby said in reply, and Rogue stopped in her tracks. 'We're coming with you, and there's nothing you can do about it. I have friends back in Bayville too, and if they are in trouble, nothing you can say or do is going to stop me helping them.'  
  
Kitty agreed with her, nodding her head firmly. 'Besides, we all remember what happened the last time you went out to handle a situation all on your own.' She stopped quickly, because of the agony that flashed across Rogue's face when she brought up that horrible night. She paused, not sure whether or not she had pushed her friend a little to far.  
  
She hadn't. Rogue was completely still for a moment, before letting out her breath, and allowing her head to fall down in a defeated nod. 'All right, but we have to go quickly, before anyone else wakes up. I want to involve as few people in this as possible.'  
  
As if responding to her words, the door opened, and Kurt and Scott poked their heads in, both bleary eyed, yet looking as if they'd heard all of the conversation they needed to. 'You're going back to Bayville?' Kurt asked, looking from one face to another, a slight frown replacing the smile that was usually plastered to his face.  
  
Rogue banged her head against the wall, and went through a rather colourful variety of cuss words. When she looked up again, her brother looked floored, as if he didn't know whether to be shocked at her, or impressed by her wide vocabulary and creative imagery. Under most other circumstances, Rogue would have laughed.  
  
'Fine.' She said, as though this was anything but fine. 'Scott, go fetch everybody else, and get them in here. Everyone might as well know now. Do it quickly, I don't want to waste much more time.' Scott didn't say anything in response; he just disappeared out the door and off down the corridor. Kitty went into the bathroom to get dressed, and Tabby ordered Kurt to wait outside while she did the same. In his present state, Kurt didn't make even a single protest, and did what he was told.  
  
Tabby looked a Rogue with a wry smile, 'You know, kinda makes me wish you'd drop bombshells like this on him more often.'  
  
It was about a minute later that the group was assembled in the girls' bedroom, in various states of consciousness. Rogue stood in front of them all, and began to pace back and forth as she spoke, avoiding Pietro, whose pale face never strayed from following her movements. She didn't want to deal with that just now.  
  
'I just had, a pretty vivid dream. I saw Bayville being attacked, I could see things attacking the institute, the other mutants were getting hurt,' she paused, her voice catching slightly, ' and I don't think it was a dream. I think it's real.' She gauged their reaction before carrying on. Most, knowing who she was seemed to accept what she was saying, though she could still spot some dubious faces. 'So I'm going to Bayville. Even if it wasn't real, I want to make sure I did everything I could to help them. I'm leaving now.'  
  
'And we're going too' Tabby said, indicating her and Kitty with a careless wave of her hand and shooting a warning look at Rogue, reminding her that nothing she could do would shake them off.  
  
Unfortunately, everyone else (once they'd gotten over their initial shock) seemed to share their sentiments. Plans were immediately made for people to get ready to leave. Rogue stood helpless as she watched them, and felt slightly frustrated that nobody was prepared to let her do this alone. They, like Kitty, were probably remembering the last time something like this happened. If she'd been paying attention, she would have noticed the panicked look that crossed Pietro's face when she announced that she was once again charging blindly into battle.  
  
She looked to Mystique, with an almost grimace on her face. Her mother seemed to understand and patted her on the shoulder sympathetically. 'They care about you you know, that's why they are coming with you.' She said it as though Rogue wasn't aware of the fact.  
  
'I know' she said, throwing her hands up in exasperation, 'sometimes I wish they didn't care as much as they do.'  
  
'You can't change how people feel towards you, and I somehow don't think you'd really want to either.'  
  
Rogue sighed, and leaned into her mothers embrace. 'I suppose you're coming too.' She said wearily.  
  
Mystique smiled, as though Rogue was talking about her coming to a parent teacher night, and not an imminent battle and danger. 'Wouldn't miss it for the world.' She replied, giving her daughter a quick yet meaningful hug before leaving the room.  
  
  
  
It was a hastily assembled group that found themselves standing around in the cold in the middle of the night, waiting to get into the vehicles which Mystique and Lance were driving up to meet them in. the temperature had dropped drastically, and small clouds of steam poured from their faces with each breath they took. Stars shone brightly from the clear night sky above, but nobody was really paying any attention to them.  
  
The two cars pulled up beside them, and everyone rushed forward to pile into them, partly because of the cold, and partly because of the sense of urgency Rogue had created. Pietro fought to get into the same car as Rogue, but she moved to the front of the crowd, and climbed into the seat next to Lance, much to Kitty's annoyance. The younger girl sat silently fuming in the back of the car with Pietro and Scott. Honestly, she thought to herself with frustration. Just because she's fighting with Pietro, she runs for Lance. She knew of course that that wasn't really fair, but some part of her was jealous for the closeness between her boyfriend and her best friend, and had been for some time.  
  
Lance gave Rogue a little questioning look in the front, which she returned with a shake of the head. He seemed to understand her, and without saying another word, turned on the car, and pulled out down the drive. The others followed, and for once they couldn't hear Tabby and Kurt's screams and laughter.  
  
They were all still a little bleary eyed, with the exception of Rogue, who now leaned her head out the jeep, letting the cool night air whip her hair back and forth. For so late in the night, the mutants were a jumble of emotions. Part apprehension, part suspended disbelief, and most of all, afraid, they made their way down the road, back to a place they had so recently escaped from, and quite unsure of what they would find when they returned there.  
  
  
  
The sun rose and the day started as usual in the Xavier institute. Bobby Drake rubbed sleep from his eyes, after yet another late night training session in the danger room. It was about the fiftieth time he'd stayed up late practising. The others had stayed with him at first, but none could match his dedication and effort, and had gradually dropped out. Bobby now trained alone at night, having been given permission from the Professor to work on his own, provided he put the settings fairly low in his sessions. He didn't know yet whether they were paying off, as the X-men hadn't had a real test or mission in months. He was tired though, but he was never going to stop practising, nor being prepared.  
  
On his way down the hall, he passed a now empty room. An untouched patch on the front of the door was the only indication that it had ever belonged to someone. Bobby stopped in his tracks, and brushed his finger softly over the shining surface. He had heard nothing from Rogue since she had left the institute in a blaze of fury all that time ago. Sure, she must have her reasons, it didn't stop Bobby wondering where she and the rest of his friends were, and it didn't stop him missing them.  
  
It was difficult to describe just what had become of the X-men since that spectacular scene at the beginning of the summer. He would have liked to say that the loss and tragedy had brought them all closer, but it would have been a lie. Sam's eyes still misted over slightly when he looked at the space which Rahne had once inhabited, and jubilee and friends had come back to school and hadn't stopped smiling since, now having confirmed their reputation for being able to party hard. Bobby of course had thrown himself into training, not missing a session for anything or anyone. Rifts had grown between them. Some refused to let go of the past, some refused to acknowledge it, he supposed.  
  
The Professor had become a little more reclusive too; he gave you the impression of being sort of broken inside. Bobby found it strange, but he felt that this change in behaviour was more to do with Jean's departure, than what Rogue had put him through before she had left. Bobby lay awake at night still questioning what had gone on before that day, always not entirely sure if he wanted to know the answer.  
  
The bulk of controlling the teenagers was now put down to Wolverine and Storm. The Professor was still in charge overall, and was on hand if ever any of them had a serious problem, but other than that, he preferred to stay in his study, doing god knows what.  
  
Bobby woke from his musings to find he was halfway through brushing his teeth. Amazed at how you could do certain things without even thinking about them, he finished up in the bathroom, and once dressed, made his way down to the kitchen to grab a late breakfast. He never even noticed the far off bangs which began in the distance, but which would get closer and closer as the morning progressed.  
  
  
  
At the head of the pack, Apocalypse held up his hand for the mutants to pull to a stop. The jubilant cheers, which had signalled the beginning of the journey, had descended into grumbling and complaining as the band cut its way through the forest and down the roads on their journey to the town they were going to destroy. They had met passers by of course on their way, and they had disposed of them with speed and ruthlessness. Now, as their leader threw his hand out and motioned to a sign which read 'Welcome to Bayville, please drive carefully', the blisters on their feet seemed to disappear, and the tight dryness in the throats was replaced with a hoarse cry of jubilation.  
  
Apocalypse nodded, looking around and meeting eye of them in the eye. 'We have arrived. it is time. Spare no human, be it man woman or child. Give mutants the choice, and dispose of those who are unsympathetic to our cause. Remember, leave the psychic to me.' His instructions were simple and brutally short, but they left the mutants waiting to get at the town desperately, like a pack of hounds eagerly baying for blood in a hunt.  
  
Now smirking, Apocalypse gestured for them to get about their business, and the group unleashed a terrible cry of battle to drain the very sun from the sky. They made their way down to the streets below quickly, chasing down the people who had been strolling down the streets, and blasting open doors to houses, dragging screaming families from within.  
  
Coming out of a shop, a mother turned to see the mob fast approaching, and in caught in the reflexes of a new parent, threw her arms protectively around her small child, who let out a cry as he watched the mutants set fire to a house about twenty metres away.  
  
One of the men approached them. He had the face of a human, but as her eyes moved inevitably to his arms, she let out an involuntary cry. Huge steel blades were grafted to the stumps protruding from his shoulders, looking sharp enough to cut straight through bone without too much trouble. She clutched her child to her a little tighter.  
  
Something about her reaction seemed to enrage the man further. His face clouded for a split second with something that could have resembled hurt. Then he masked it over with a furious yet gratified smile. And as he raised his arms above her head, the woman began to weep for her child, and knew that there would be no mercy.  
  
  
  
Bobby poured himself another glass of juice, and sat down by the counter, not at all pleased to see that Evan had once again consumed the mansions entire supply of milk. The departure of the others had hardly affected him, but then Bobby supposed, they hadn't really been that close to each other anyway. As he sat there quietly drinking, Jamie came into the room with a quiet hello. He had been one of the most quiet people Bobby had ever known before everything had, well happened, and now this was even more so. Bobby couldn't help but feel a little protective of the youngest boy in the mansion, like he was a little brother or something. He smiled at Jamie, as the mousy haired mutant opened up the fridge, his face creasing into a frown as he realised what Bobby had just been complaining about.  
  
'Perhaps we could put a lock on the bottles or something.' Bobby suggested, and Jamie gave a little laugh, before making do with some orange juice, and Bobby had had to do.  
  
The two were discussing their plans for the day, when a crash came from a few streets away from the institute. Even at this distance, it was a big enough force to send Jamie splitting into five clones temporarily, before each folded into the original.  
  
Bobby swore quietly. 'What the hell was that?'  
  
His now scared friend gave a little shrug. Bobby pushed his way out of the room and quickened his pace as he went out the front door of the mansion. It didn't take a genius to work out the gist of what was going on in Bayville. Smoke was now clouding the horizon, along with the occasional flicker of high rising flame. And amidst it all, Bobby could hear things going on. Distant laughter, more bangs, and screaming, a lot of screaming.  
  
Jamie joined him in a moment, along with several of the other mutants. They watched the scene before them for a few moments with horrified disbelief, before Jubilee broke the silence.  
  
'Holy shit!' she exclaimed.  
  
Her outburst seemed to stir Bobby into action. He didn't have a clue what was going on, but he was fairly certain that this was something like what he'd been preparing for these last few months. He began to organise who was there, getting them primed for action, when Professor Xavier's voice cut across his own thoughts, and boomed loudly in his head. Bobby was surprised; this was the first time in a long while the Prof had spoken to them this way.  
  
'Students, get into the mansion quickly, we are going to be under attack. I will explain in a moment, but get in quickly. We are all in grave danger.'  
  
  
  
Not for the first time, Charles Xavier found himself sitting in his study on a Sunday morning, reflecting on just where things had begun to go wrong. He supposed it was when he had taken in Rogue. The girl had always been trouble, more than she was worth. And she had humiliated him. Destroyed him even. He had continued his work with the students who had remained in the institute, but he felt as though he were leading a half- life, a shell of what he once was.  
  
His missed his first pupils. Scott and Jean. The perfect X-men, both lost to him thanks to Rogue. And there wasn't a thing in hell he could do about it, because she was stronger than him. And this knowledge was slowly killing him.  
  
It was almost a welcome distraction for him when he sensed an imminent danger approaching the town. This was short lived however, as he probed slightly into the minds of the potential attackers, and discovered what the purpose of their assault was. He went quickly to his extensive bookshelves and pulled out a dust covered old volume which had never had need of until now. He slammed it onto the table, and flipped quickly to the page he was looking for. His worst fears were confirmed, as he saw the creature in his mind now reflected on the page. Apocalypse, meant to be just a myth, had been resurrected, and was on the warpath.  
  
He had gotten together his most essential things before he even spoke to the students. It was a stupid man who would risk a battle with Rogue, but a suicidal man who would risk one with Apocalypse. He used his telepathy to bring the students to him, and informed them as tactfully as he could, of the situation they now faced, and the plan of action he intended to take.  
  
'So you just want us to run, and let the whole town be destroyed?' Bobby asked, horrified. At the back of the group, he could see Logan frowning, as if he too knew that this just wasn't like him. And it wasn't, but they didn't know the danger that he was in.  
  
'Bobby you don't understand. This is a battle that we shall not win.' He tried to reason, but the boy was resolute.  
  
'We should still try.' He said darkly, eyeing his professor with something bordering on disrespect.  
  
The others, surprisingly, backed him up. Xavier could see that support was failing, and allowed at last for the desperation he felt to show on his face. It was then that Logan realised.  
  
'It's you they're after. Run then Charles. We'll stay and defend.' Xavier didn't know whether Logan meant to be harsh in his tone or not. Charles contemplated this, and spoke after a few seconds.  
  
'Will none of you run with me?' he pleaded. His students and friends watched him with sad eyes, and Xavier watched them for only a moment more, before turning, and quietly fleeing the mansion. He left a resounding silence behind him. Nobody could quite believe what was happening. In the end, it was Logan who took control, and began to make plans for the leaderless defence of the mansion.  
  
  
  
Apocalypse was enjoying himself. He hadn't seen carnage such as this for hundreds, if not thousands of years. The screams and pleadings around him assaulted his senses like an orchestra playing a fine symphony. He strode through the now burning buildings, flames licking at his body, but having no effect. Ahead of him, he could spy the mansion that housed the group of mutants. Stretching out through his exhaultation, he could feel the faint shadows of mutant activity, he could feel the imprint of the psychic on his mind, and the thrill for his own personal chase began to kick in.  
  
But then something happened which he did not expect. The shadow that had been playing on his mind, that which he was chasing, began to fade rapidly. Face now contorted in bewilderment, Apocalypse looked up, in time to see a jet take off from the general direction of the mansion, and speed off into the horizon. But he could still feel the presence of mutants in the building, a lot of them.  
  
'So' he murmured to himself, stopping for a moment in his tracks. 'He runs. No matter.' He called to those mutants who were around him, and ordered for the attack to be focused now primarily on the institute. They grouped together, leaving the humans who had just survived the enslaught as terrified wrecks in their wake. They moved off down the road, intent now only on the destruction of the group of mutants who were still foolish enough to remain in that mansion.  
  
  
  
The people in the two cars first began to notice that Rogue's vision was no mere nightmare, when they saw that the 'welcome to Bayville' sign was on fire. The letters were now obscured by burning, charred paint. In the back of the car, Kitty leant forward and gripped Lance's shoulder.  
  
'Oh my god' she cried softly, 'we're too late.'  
  
They had probably broken about five hundred speed limits on their way back to Bayville. Most people in the car put it down to Rogue's interference that they had yet to be stopped. For her part, Rogue had been silent for the entire trip. She had taken her head in from the window, but had kept her vigil at the pane, staring out at the changing landscapes before her, but lost entirely in a world of her own.  
  
At Kitty's words however, she stirred, as if waking from a trance. She looked at her friend, her face fixed into a stern frown. 'No, we're not too late. They're heading for the institute right now.' She looked at Lance, 'we just need to speed up a bit.'  
  
He looked at his friend in amazement, 'what do you think we've been doing for the last few hundred miles?' he said, 'this thing just won't go any faster.'  
  
Rogue's frown deepened. 'Well I'll just give it some help then.' The statement was followed by a sudden burst of acceleration, and the car sped through the streets of Bayville with renewed speed.  
  
  
  
Looking out from the mansion windows, Logan could see that Apocalypse and his buddies were getting very close to the gates. He knew that the defences he and Charles had worked so hard to perfect would be torn up by the gang with ruthless efficiency. He still couldn't believe that Xavier had fled, and left his kids behind him to face peril. Whatever Chuck was afraid of, it couldn't be that bad. Logan had never heard of Apocalypse before now, and was looking forward to introducing the guy to his metal claws. He had stationed groups of mutants all around the building. He headed up some of the younger mutants, including Jamie. Bobby had taken Sam and the others to the danger room area to arm themselves, and Storm and Evan, being both more experienced than the others, were positioned nearest to the entrance, to curb the first barrage of attacks.  
  
Logan was almost looking forward to seeing this guy, and the look on his face when he realised Chuck was not there, and everyone was ready and waiting for him. It had been a long time since he had seen any action beyond the simulations in the danger room, and he felt himself to be a man who thrived on battle. So, when the band of mutants blasted their way through the gates of the Institute, a slight eagerness overtook him, and he began the final preparations for battle.  
  
  
  
Apocalypse blasted another tree out of his path. His followers ran ahead of him, eager to satisfy their blood lust. From above him, he could feel a breeze blowing around him. Most would have been blown away by this manipulation of the weather, but to the ancient warlord, it was but a minor irritation. He looked above him, to see a weather witch flying through the air at the centre of the wind, her white hair flying about her as though it were one with the air. To him, she was nothing but a fly to be swatted, apocalypse stretched his gigantic hand, and reached it out to her, he let his hand fly out quickly, meeting the witch in mid air, before she had the time to react. The wind stopped immediately, and she went soaring to earth, crashing into one of the only remaining trees on the ground. She did not get up.  
  
Now able to move freely after the blustering winds, his small army was busy penetrating the meagre defences of the institute. Things flew at them through the air, some fired by automated machines, some launched at them by figures waiting in the windows of the mansion. If Apocalypse had been capable of feeling emotion, he would have pitied them in the windows, almost certainly doomed to die. He merely smiled up at them, enjoying the shock waves that coursed through them as they took in his appearance for the first time. He inspired fear in people; it was one of his greatest weapons.  
  
And at the back of his mind, as he watched his followers enter the building, and heard shrieks and shouting from within, he was aware that another presence was coming closer. It was more mutants; he was sure, and, yes, the girl. She had come, he did not know why. The escape of the psychic no longer mattered to him, for he now had a new, infinitely more important target. True, he would have wanted to amass a larger army before he properly faced the mutant, but he saw nothing wrong in an initial confrontation.  
  
Apocalypse smiled again as the scent of blood came floating towards him, but he did not enter the house. Totally aware of what was happening around him, and yet not seeming to care, he stood in the grounds of the mansion, and waited.  
  
  
  
Bobby finally felt fear creeping into his senses as he watched a crowd of mutants approaching the danger room. He looked back to where Sam was manning the controls, and made sure that everything was set. The other boy nodded, and he and the others went to stand behind him, or take their place at the controls. Knowing there wasn't much time to spare, Bobby spoke to them all quickly.  
  
'Right everyone; we know that these simulations will only hold them off for a while. At some point, we are going to have to fight.' He saw the terror on their faces. 'Remember, we're doing this for Rahne.' He saw the terror being bottled over with grim determination, and he gave a satisfied nod. Sam in particular seemed resolute.  
  
The doors to the danger room broke open, and a crowd of mutants swarmed in. bobby motioned for Sam to start the programme, and watched as they began to contend with all the obstacles the danger room could throw at them. He only hoped that when the time came to fight, that they would be ready.  
  
One of the men found himself facing a giant metal fist, which was pounding on the ground with crushing blows. He threw himself onto the top of the thing, and placed his hands on the base of the fist, where metal met wall. The surface glowed red for a moment, and then the metal began to melt, and moulded in a new shape round the wall, stopping the fist in it's tracks.  
  
He saw Jubilee put a hand to her mouth as she watched the men in action. On the other side of the room, two other mutants were busy overpowering the largest gun in the entire room. Another few moments, and it let out a final shot before crashing to earth. Evidently the destruction of the danger room was going to take these people less time than he had counted for. He began to prepare himself for battle. And it was then that Sam motioned to the computer that chartered the progress of intruders to the mansion. It had been installed a little while after they'd had that party, and one of the important information discs had been stolen. The picture clearly showed that more mutants were on the way to the danger room.  
  
Sam let out a gulp. Before this, the odds of them holding their own in the fight had been fairly bad, now the task looked virtually impossible. They waited with baited breath to see what would happen first, whether the men who were already there would completely destroy the danger room before or after their reinforcements arrived.  
  
So the got a complete shock when the doors were blasted open, and Tabby, Kurt, Scott and Fred came through, all pretty much ready to fight for them.  
  
  
  
The two cars screeched to a halt outside the gates of the mansion, and again, Kitty was tempted to cry out that they were too late to do anything to save the people inside. They pushed their way through the broken gates as a whole, before branching out and coming to a halt to take in the scene in front of them.  
  
There had been at least half a dozen fires started in and around the mansion. It looked like the battle was already well underway. They could hear shouting from the upper floors of the building, and a slumped body that looked frighteningly like Storm was lying haphazardly at the foot of a tree. And there was a thick smell of something in the air, a smell that had followed them ever since they'd driven into the town. Nobody had commented on it though, probably because they were afraid of what it was it reminded them of. Blood.  
  
Strangely enough, it was Mystique and not Rogue who took immediate charge. She broke everyone into groups. Scott was to lead one group, which would scour the lower floors and see what help could be done. She would take Kitty, Lance and Todd up to where there was obviously some fighting by the windows, and Pietro and Rogue would go round the outskirts of the mansion, helping anybody who needed it, and trying to sum up what the general threat to the mansion was.  
  
If Rogue was unhappy about her mother pairing her up with Pietro, she didn't show it. She looked strangely removed from everyone else, as though she was completely unaware of what was happening around her. She was looking off towards the trees, a light having come on in her eyes, giving her a sort of gleaming expression.  
  
Mystique brought her back down to Earth, when she asked whether or not she was all right with this plan. Rogue gave a half nod in her mother's direction, and took off in the direction of the trees, leaving the others behind. Pietro stayed only a moment before following her. The others shared questioning looks, before they too split up, and began to wade into the fray.  
  
  
  
Pietro had to partially use her powers as he ran to catch up with Rogue, she was going that fast. He caught up with her, and held his hand out to catch her arm. Even though he was now part restraining her, Rogue kept up her manic pace through the trees.  
  
'Rogue' Pietro ventured uncertainly, 'before we get into the fight, don't you think we should..'  
  
He had to trail off then, because Rogue interrupted him, finally stopping in her tracks. 'What? Stop and talk everything through because we might not both make it through this? People we know are being killed as we speak Pietro, we can't afford to waste one second!' she carried on, but only for a few steps. She held out her arm, and Pietro, who had resorted to running again, ran straight into it.  
  
There was a sound, vague at first, but getting closer. The ground started to vibrate slightly, as though something massive were moving towards them. Rogue looked back at Pietro, her face now going pale.  
  
'Run', she told him. 'Go help the others.'  
  
Pietro didn't understand. 'No, we're supposed to be doing this together. I'm not going to leave you now, whatever's going on between us.'  
  
Rogue moved closer to him. 'Pietro please run, you have to go.' She was beginning to sound a little desperate, and the sound and rumbling was getting louder. Rogue began to push him backwards.  
  
'No' he said, fighting her efforts as best he could. 'I said I can't leave you. I love you!' he said frantically, clawing away at her attempts.  
  
Rogue stopped, she leant forward, and kissed him once on the lips soundly, before she raised her hand, and sent him flying backwards through the trees.  
  
Pietro had only the vague impression of someone absolutely gigantic storming through the trees, before he himself slammed into a trunk, and waved the world a momentary goodbye.  
  
  
  
Scott led the others through the confines of the mansion. He was actually fairly impressed with the work that must have been done to the defence system since their departure from the institute. Still, he knew how to get around the system with as little trouble as possible, and by the trail of destruction left by the attacking mutants, they had headed for the danger room.  
  
Scott was proved to be right when they finally broke into the chamber, and spent a second assessing the situation. There were about six or seven men, all mutants, who were at this point in time demolishing what was clearly one of the most dangerous simulations on the danger room programme. Up in the control room, he could see the stupified faces of Bobby and some of the other new students. He supposed later that they weren't the new students anymore, but the only students.  
  
Scott gave a nod in their direction, signalling to them to stop the simulation and come down to join the fight. With his hand, he motioned for Tabby and Kurt to tackle the man who had just destroyed one of the crushing metal attachments on his own, whilst he and Fred did what they could to hold of the others before help arrived.  
  
He and Fred moved across the room, ignoring the now stationary obstacles. They now faced up to about six mutants, all older and experienced than they were. Things were not looking good. Scott thought back to the training he hadn't done in so very long, and tried to remember the most important things Wolverine had drilled into him. The most important, he supposed, was to know your opponents weaknesses.  
  
One of the men, he could see, had powers similar to his own. He could shoot energy beams from his hands. But whilst he shared this with Scott, he did not have his speed. He was a fairly big guy, and from what he had seen so far, was a little on the clumsy side. Seeing a pile of fallen weaponry in the far corner of the room, he took a chance a let out a surprise blast at the guy. The beam let out from his eyes hit him square in the chest, and he was sent careering back into the corner, crashing into the debris. When the guy tried to stand, he tripped on a fallen pipe, and landed straight back where he had fallen.  
  
Fred then picked up part of the broken gun, and hurled it at him, pretty much ruling him out the fight. By this time, the others were advancing quite rapidly on them, and the two of them moved separately into action, Fred being the unmovable object he was, and Scott letting out random hits and trying to dodge what the others threw at him.  
  
They weren't fighting alone for long. Soon the doors to the chamber burst open once more, and Bobby and the others threw themselves into the fight with abandon.  
  
Kurt and Tabby were both on the run. They had long since worked out that their opponent's power was the ability to melt metal. This didn't really help matters, as a large portion of the danger room was in fact made of metal. As the man moved in to melt the hanging wiring above Tabby's head, Kurt bamfed her out of the way. This allowed Bobby to get in a surprise attack, and freeze the guy where he still stood.  
  
Being who he was, the mutant had no trouble in thawing out his frozen prison, but didn't have a chance to recover before Tabby threw a bomb at him and he was knocked to the ground, and knocked out.  
  
Tabby allowed herself only a brief punch into the air before they ran to help the others, and the fight was now very much in the younger mutants favour. As Jubilee fired off her sparks at the last man standing, the rest looked around, to take in the fact that not only had several of their number reappeared, but that they had won, against the odds.  
  
Tabby contained herself for a moment, before launching herself at her former friends, dragging Kurt along with her. Scott clapped Fred on the back before going to join his old teammates, and for a moment, it was completely forgotten that a battle was going on above them.  
  
They were brought back to reality pretty damn quickly, when something large hit the ground above them. Scott took most of the mutants back up with him to help Mystique and Logan, but left Fred and Sam in charge of rounding up the fallen mutants, and securing them for when they woke up.  
  
Fred gave each of them another punch to face to ensure that this wouldn't happen in the duration of their task.  
  
  
  
Mystique was shocked to see Logan doing so badly in a fight. He was cornered, true, by three rather large looking men, one whose blade like arms made Logan's claws look like little needles, but problems like this had never daunted the man before. He looked as though he were certain that the end was near, despite his healing capablities. Clearly something drastic was going to be needed to get rid of these people. Thinking to herself what usually conjured up fear into men's hearts, Mystique got the sudden image of a dragon in her head. But dragons were fictional creatures, she didn't know if it was possible to change into one.  
  
It was worth a go. She focused intently on the image in her mind, and was relieved to feel her body change drastically. Her first sign of success was when she heard the mutants gasp; the second was when she broke the roof off the building in her transformation. She looked down now at the men, who stared at her with wide eyes, before running off down the halls. Unfortunately, most of the others followed suit, including the young mutants she was supposed to be saving.  
  
Mystique changed form again, and found that only Logan had remained. Lance, Kitty and Todd had followed in the direction of the running kids.  
  
Wolverine was watching her was a bizarre expression on his face. He seemed part knackered, part disbelieving.  
  
He cleared his throat. 'Thanks' he said gruffly, like he could believe he was saying it.  
  
Mystique nodded in reply. 'Welcome' she said, unable to keep a little smirk away. She didn't let him see it, by turning in the direction the others had run to, and following.  
  
  
  
Having just seen a dragon appear out of nowhere, there was nothing really that could scare Jamie. Or so he thought. On his way out of the mansion, he turned around to notice that he was being pursued. By a man with blades for arms. This was particularly scary.  
  
He had no idea how to use his power to help him in a situation like this, and was so much slower than this man. He held up his arms over his head to uselessly try and protect himself, and ran for all he was worth, knowing it was actually no good.  
  
The guy was getting closer. There was a smile of triumph lighting up his eerie face, and he was raising his blade above his head.  
  
He was about to swing back, when something leaped out of the air, and threw Jamie aside.  
  
He looked up to see just what it was that had saved him, and realised that it wasn't a what, it was a who. Todd Polanski was lying panting on the ground beside him.  
  
'Shit, you run fast kid' he gasped. He didn't get a chance to recover, because the man had stopped in his tracks, and was now advancing upon the two of them, blades raised high in the air.  
  
It was then that Todd did something both brave, and incredibly stupid. Sticking out his tongue, he lashed onto one of the blade arms the man was waving about, and wrapped it round it, getting a firm hold. Then as a fisherman flicks out his line, he used his only weapon to send the man flying into the trees beyond, letting go only at the last moment. He drew back his tongue, not wanting to see the damage done to it by the sharp blade. He could feel the pain well enough.  
  
Jamie didn't seem to know what to say, and so started immediately trying to save Todd's incredibly injured tongue, waiting till later to show gratitude, when they weren't in quite as much mortal peril.  
  
  
  
About five minutes later, and things were definitely looking good for the X-men. Lance stood on the first floor of the mansion, and caused the ground below to rumble, knocking several mutants at once off their feet. Scott and Tabby fired at them from the ground. Kitty and Kurt led some through the trees, straight into the waiting ice of Bobby, and the heat of Magma. Despite the separation, the X-men seemed to work as a seamless team still, even with the addition of people who once, a long time ago, had been enemies.  
  
Logan threw a last punch at a guy could shoot vines from his hands, and that was it. Together, the threat to the mansion had been abolished. The mutants stood for a while, watching their fallen opponents, and getting their breath back. It was over.  
  
Something then erupted a while away in the trees, which sort of disproved their point, and they ran to the source of the trouble.  
  
When they finally arrived there, they couldn't believe their eyes.  
  
  
  
He was absolutely huge, Rogue remarked to herself vaguely. About ten times the size of herself. She knew she should be afraid, but she supposed she would not allow herself to be so.  
  
'Apocalypse' she said, unable to think of anything witty or clever to say at this exact moment in time. She just hoped she was actually as calm as she thought she was, and that her legs would function when she actually needed them too.  
  
'You know me' he replied, looking slightly startled that she addressed him by his name. There was something in the way he was watching her that was heartening for Rogue. It was almost as though the creature was wary of her, like there was a little respect buried in the fathomless depths of her eyes.  
  
'I know you' she confirmed. This was a bit of lie. She didn't really know what he was here for, and where exactly he came from, or anything really other than his name.  
  
'I felt you coming' he said, and Rogue waited apprehensively for more. 'I felt you at the back of my mind, you burn brighter than any other matter on the planet.'  
  
She supposed he was paying her a compliment, and resisted the urge to say thank you.  
  
'Join me' he hissed out, 'together, no thing on Earth could put an end to our dominance. Refuse, and one of us will have to die.'  
  
He didn't beat about the bush; she had to give him credit for that. Finding her tongue, Rogue answered him. 'Thanks for the offer and everything, but I think we'd have a clash of opinions. On killing people, for example.'  
  
He had no sense of humour. 'Foolish child,' he spat at her. 'You have chosen death over absolute power.'  
  
'Well maybe somebody will remember that in the afterlife.' She responded, 'I'll be sure to spit on you from up there.'  
  
He raised his giant hands in fury, and slammed them down on the ground. Something close to a minor earthquake rocked the ground below her. Rogue couldn't keep her balance, and tumbled to the ground.  
  
Apocalypse pressed his advantage, and sent the earth rolling her backwards, the ground peeled backwards easily. She hit ground, and pulled herself to her feet painfully, knowing she'd find bruises all over her the next day.  
  
But she wasn't beaten yet. Since she had come into her powers, Rogue had not yet found the chance to really stretch her legs. Now, here was the perfect opportunity. Apocalypse looked down to find the ground below him was now shaking, and rumbling was coming from beneath. Soon, a hole erupted from under him, and torrents of water shot out at him with the force of a missile, swirling him round in a small whirlpool that had the strength of a tsunami. Rogue rose to her feet, hands out and necklace glowing.  
  
Apocalypse fought himself free of the torrent, and now faced Rogue, dripping wet, and still deadly. He picked up a tree; wrenching it from the ground it was still attached to, and hurled it at her like a javelin.  
  
Rogue held up her hands, and the tree stopped mid flight. She spun it around for a moment, and then sent it, still spinning, towards its origin. Apocalypse ducked, and several of the trees around him were destroyed by the gigantic missile.  
  
It was at this point, that Pietro ran in at top speed. As Apocalypse again fired another vastly heavy object in Rogue's direction, which she again fended off, Pietro ran round and round and round him, building up a small whirlwind round him, despite Rogue's protests for him to stop.  
  
Pietro did stop, but only when he was made to realise how futile his efforts were. Apocalypse endured the annoyance for a moment, before he closed his eyes, and began to grow, getting to be about twice the size he was before. Pietro's whilrwind was now rising only to the tops of his legs. He raised his foot slightly, and kicked at the boy, who was sent soaring through the air. Rogue stopped him mid flight, and landed him at the other side of the freshly made clearing.  
  
High above her, the voice of Apocalypse boomed to the heavens. 'I could squash you like a bug, but it would make death far too quick for you.' He said, watching her with contempt.  
  
Rogue looked around her frantically. She saw now that everyone had stopped fighting, and was now watching her confrontation. This meant that the house was now empty. Which gave her an idea.  
  
'Well that's true,' she agreed, 'but it also wouldn't give me a chance to do this.' Her necklace glowed bright white round her neck, and her eyes seemed to shine like beacons. And, slowly at first, but with growing pace, the part of the mansion, which was still in tact, began to rise into the air. As if they knew what was coming, everyone ran as fast as they could, save for Pietro. Rogue let the partially destroyed structure hover for a few tantalising moments, before she let it fall right on top of Apocalypse.  
  
As the house came crashing down, she went running to Pietro, putting a shield around them both. He was lying quite still on the ground, but Rogue was fairly sure he was alive. She watched as the part building came crashing down on the mutant, and heard his cry of surprised pain. Then there was absolute silence for a moment. Then the ruins and rubble began to stir.  
  
His body, now back to its original size, levitated itself from the wreckage. With it, came the unconscious figures of his small, fallen army. He watched Rogue as he rose.  
  
'When we meet again, I will be stronger.' He said as a parting warning, before he and the other figures moved away, coming to land a safe distance from the mansion.  
  
Everything seemed to zoom back to reality for everyone else, and they realised that there was in fact a ruined town around them. They could hear sirens in the distance, and knew that camera crews wouldn't be too far behind. They still had to do what they could to help, and attract as little attention as possible to the institute, or their involvement in the fight.  
  
Still, they couldn't help but be affected a little by what had just taken place. Kurt watched his sister with a stupified expression, after approaching the rubble with Tabby.  
  
'You threw a house at him?' he asked blankly.  
  
He didn't get an answer. Rogue was too busy seeing to Pietro. She turned him over gently, and stroked his hair softly, bringing him back to consciousness. He watched her with a slightly dizzy look.  
  
'I'm sorry I didn't listen to you' he said, but she put a resigned finger over his lips, holding it in place for a second or two.  
  
'I love you too.' She responded, before lowering her head and replacing her finger with her own lips.  
  
  
  
On the other side of the world, in a far off, mountain temple, a cloaked figure made his way hastily through the stone passageways. He ended up running full on, coming to a halt when he arrived in a massive stone chamber.  
  
Throwing off his hood, he revealed himself to be fairly old, yet noble in face, the rugged crags of his skin adding character to his appearance. A rough, short beard covered the lower half of his face, and he stood now scratching it slightly in anxiety.  
  
He looked to his two compatriots, both who wore similar apparel to himself. He looked from face to fear, the fear clear in his eyes.  
  
'Is it true Cassius, Hermes?' he asked, knowing already the answer. His two friends looked positively terrified.  
  
The two heads fell in solemn nods. 'It is true, the war lord has returned to the Earth.'  
  
'Can you be sure?' he said, clinging onto the final, desperate strands of hope.  
  
In response, the men gestured to the huge stone alter that was the centrepiece of the room. On it, a stone in the middle of the surface was now glowing a bright light.  
  
'But, but this means that the champion must be active also.' He said, and was met by more nods from his fellows.  
  
'Yes' one of them said, with slightly more hope than before. 'It means, Brutus' he said, and his thin lipped smile that had before been firmly in place faltered a little, and he gave a slight cough. 'We're going to America.'  
  
Brutus's jaw hit the floor in horror.  
  
DISCLAIMER: Characters and situation are property of Marvel and WB  
  
AUTHORS NOTE: I am sooooo sorry this took so long, and no offence to the American's by the last remark, trust me it should all make sense soon. But next chapter, we will see the aftermath of the battle, including the interest the rest of the world takes. Lance and Rogue will have a heart to heart, Kitty will have to work on her revenge, Apocalypse will need to plan again, and Scott will have to do something about his standing Lydia up (or someone else will have to do something for him!). There's a bunch of other stuff still to happen as well, I'll just have to sort out which order it happens in! So till next time, keep reviewing. Oh yes, what do people feel should happen to the 'new students' now that their fearless (ahem) leader has left them to go into hiding? 


	7. A scar that will not heal, and an afterm...

Chapter 7  
  
You just couldn't help but be impressed at the speed with which the country's media arrived in the destroyed town. They must have had some sort of bug on the police phone line, because with the ambulances and squad cars, there came the cameras and the reporters. In half an hour the town had been transformed from silent wreckage to media frenzy.  
  
This did not bode well for the mutants at the Xavier institute. Because all though it was a good thing that many of the townspeople had survived the attack by Apocalypse, those who hadn't been knocked unconscious and were in full control of their senses couldn't help but notice a large part of building rise and fall through the air, then an army of imposing figures take off into the skies. And that was a very hard thing to explain.  
  
Then there was still the task of seeing to the ruined town. Whilst so staunchly defending their own home, the students had put aside the terrible thought of what had become of their beloved town. There were still hundreds of people outside the boundaries of the institute in need of help. So, disentangling herself from Pietro, Rogue left the confines of the destroyed mansion, and walked off into the streets to see what she could do. The others followed behind her, or branched off into groups to cover as much of the town as possible. Pietro stayed with Rogue, for even though her walk was resolute, their was a tired slump in her shoulders, and he knew that watching the horrors that others had endured at the hands of Apocalypse would be hard for her.  
  
This was proved a little way up the road, when they paused at the blown out window of a convenience store. Behind the counter, they could make out the body of an elderly woman, clutching her murdered grandchildren to her breast. There was a dried out tear streak on her wrinkled old face, frozen in its tracks by the loss of life. Rogue reached out a hand to close the startled eyes of the little kid folded tightly in her arms, and then felt her knees give way. She sagged against Pietro, who removed her from the broken shop floor.  
  
They quickly learnt to subdue their own horror momentarily. Bayville was now equivalent to a war zone; victims wandered the streets with eyes even more sightless than the frozen bodies that lay scattered on the ground before them. Even though they blocked the emotions now, the scenes would haunt the mutants in their dreams for years to come. None of them ever imagined they'd see anything like this.  
  
But there were still people to help. They blended in with the crowd, and joined the able bodied townspeople in helping those who were injured from their various predicaments. People were too busy saving the innocent who had been caught in the crossfire to pay any attention to the strangers who had joined them, and they worked together long into the afternoon and evening.  
  
Some of the students stayed back at the mansion, rounding up any of the attackers, and locating any of their own missing. These searches had a tragic end, with the discovery of Storm's battered and broken body, lying crippled beneath a tree, like a fallen leaf. Evan had crawled over to her, at least one of his legs obviously broken, his face torn and bloody. He was ignorant of his pain, trying desperately to shake his dear aunt back to life. He gave up trying, and collapsed, sobbing against her. Logan watched him with something heavy, and painful rising in his throat. He made his way over to the boy, and put a hand on his arm. Evan threw it away.  
  
'Come on, there's nothing more you can do now.' Logan spoke with a voice even gruffer than it usually was. He picked up the struggling boy with both hands, and carried him like an infant out of the mansion gates and down the street in search of an ambulance.  
  
The rest of the students had fared somewhat better in the battle. There was the odd broken arm bruise to the ribs, and people were pretty bloodied up, but those wounds would heal much quicker than the scars that now ran deeper in them all. Once the mansion was searched completely, the students who had remained did not stop to take breath, and moved off into the town to help the others.  
  
By about nine o clock that night, there was not much else that they could do. Almost collapsing with fatigue, the teens made their way back into the destroyed grounds, and sank heavily onto the grass that hadn't been burnt or ripped up. But Rogue could not join them yet; she made her way over to a depressed looking Mystique.  
  
'What are we going to do about them?' she asked her mother quietly. Mystique looked at her with weary eyes, as if she did not understand the question. Rogue gestured around at the younger students, caught between yawning and rubbing their puffy red eyes.  
  
Mystique understood now. She watched Rogue's face for a moment, and realised what she was implying.  
  
'I'm not sure if there's room.' she said uncertainly.  
  
'Of course there's room,' Rogue snapped back, 'we live in a mansion, we've always got room.'  
  
This one sentence told Mystique she was in fact fighting a losing battle. She saw that Logan had appeared behind Rogue, and was quietly observing their exchange. She heaved a great sigh, and nodded so that both of them could see her. Logan gave a slight inclination of his head, and disappeared through the trees to go back to Evan's bedside in the hospital.  
  
  
  
Rogue smiled slightly for the first time that day, before she quietly mouthed thank you to the older woman. She then faced the others, watching her with tired, strained expressions. They'd been to hell and back that day, losing one of their number, and seeing the man they admired most in the world abandon them. Now their home was destroyed, and they were left with a broken past, to face an uncertain future. In all honesty, Rogue had no idea how they would react to her proposal, or if it would even register with them at this point. Two of them weren't even present to hear it, though she was fairly certain that Logan had guessed what she was going to say.  
  
'All right, I don't know whether you feel like talking about this, or even thinking about this right now, after everything that's happened, but I think it's pretty clear that you can't stay here, and I just wanted you all to know that you're welcome to come back with us to Bedford Falls, we certainly have the room.' She saw that some of them looked relieved at her words, as though they had been desperately pondering their own future after the destruction of the mansion. It was true, there was not enough left of a building in which they could stay, and nobody wanted to stay any longer than possible in the ruined mansion.  
  
Bobby raised his hand tentatively, as though he were a first year on their first day of primary school. Rogue nodded at him, and he cleared his throat to speak.  
  
'Why?' he asked softly. He didn't say what he was asking about, as it was already clear to everyone else.  
  
Rogue looked at him sadly, and shook her head a little at her old friend. 'I don't really know Bobby. He was after the Professor I think.'  
  
It was only the remaining students of the institute who looked unsurprised at the statement. Those who had dropped in for the day looked around at the others in astonishment, both in the revelation of Apocalypses target, and the fact that Rogue knew about it. Sitting with Kitty leaning against him, Lance gave Rogue a swift, searching look, which she momentarily avoided.  
  
Jubilee confirmed what Rogue had already said, when she replied with 'We know, he took off just before we were attacked.'  
  
Rogue nodded, and then addressed everyone. 'I know the Professor was his initial target, but I'm not sure just what exactly it is he wants. All I know is that his name is Apocalypse, and he's extremely powerful.' She let the last part hang in the air, aware that they needed no proof of the validity of her claim.  
  
They accepted what she said without question, and Rogue sat back down by Pietro without another word. She leant into his arms, and felt solid muscles enfold her tenderly. At that point, she had never wanted more than to close her eyes to the world, and stay like that forever, regardless of what was happening outside. The temptation to let everything go was almost overwhelming, and Rogue forced herself to open her eyes with a snap before she gave into temptation.  
  
When she became alert again, she saw that Mystique was talking to everyone else, getting opinions and sorting out the finer details of them moving back with them all. She watched with sad amusement at the way in which Mystique had reluctantly accepted her post as head of a rapidly expanding family. The former students of Xavier were watching her with guarded expressions, as though they were unsure of whether or not she was in fact a friend or foe.  
  
Plans were made hastily, either because it was necessary, or because it all helped delay the moment when they would actually have to face what had happened that day to them all. Either way, about an hour or so later, they all found themselves waiting outside the local hospital, with what meagre belongings they could salvage from the house stuffed wildly into the cars. From the ruins of the town, they'd been able to acquire two cars which would get them to Bedford, though perhaps no further. Kitty had no idea who they belonged to, and yet she still hated to think of it as stealing. Most the places in Bayville, like the institute, had been abandoned by their occupants. It was no more than a ghost town now, with camera crews and police vans clustered together in squares as though they were swarms of flies, so finding two cars had caused little problem. For all she knew, their owners could be dead by now, a thought that caused her to shudder. Try as she might, she could not escape the horrible sensation that she was looting from a disaster zone, a place where something terrible had happened. Still, they needed more cars to get out of there, and desperate times called for desperate measures.  
  
She waited by the entrance to Evan's ward, before the doctors permitted them to go and see Evan. She, Scott, Rogue and Kurt huddled together in the clean, clinical waiting room, trying very hard not to look at the injured around them. On every seat and space there were people in need of help, and salvation. Kitty could do nothing for them but watch, and with her eyes send her wishes of sympathy and hope.  
  
A Doctor approached them wearily, his stance haggard and defeated. He looked young, but on closer inspection there were lines of worry marring his otherwise youthful face. Kitty rose from her chair to meet him, along with the others. As Evan's oldest friends from the institute, they had come in to do what they could to comfort him, and to persuade him to return with them to Bedford. The younger students had rather vacantly told them that since their departure, Evan hadn't really mixed too much with them, preferring to see other friends, or spend time with storm (it was there that their voices cracked a little).  
  
The Doctor showed them into the ward, with smiley faces pinned to the walls, and crying faces on the beds below. They could see Evan now, tucked away along one side of the room, obscured from the chaos outside the room. Wolverine was sitting by his bed, one worn hand touched lightly on the boys undamaged shoulder. They approached them slowly, not looking at the surrounding beds, and when close enough, got a look at Evan's face for the first time since leaving the institute.  
  
If they hadn't known he was suffering from nothing more than a broken limb, they would have sworn he was mortally wounded; such was the pain on his face. But then, Rogue supposed, losing the person you held most dear to you would leave you with a wound far greater than anything flesh deep. Evan's skin was sallow, with wet lines running either side of his face. His eyes were scrunched up, so they weren't even sure if he had noticed their entrance.  
  
He did however, when he opened his eyes. Bloodshot and wild, they looked out at the others as if through bullet holes. Wolverine too looked up at them, his own sadness making him more aloof than ever.  
  
Evan did not say anything; he did not wave or make a similar gesture. He merely watched with almost bored detachment as his old friends crept closer to his bedside. The lack of conversation between them all hung like a chasm.  
  
Kitty was surprised when Scott was the first to speak, because she had been looking to Rogue. After all that had happened, it was hard to imagine that Scott had once been undisputed leader of them all. So many things had changed since then, both for better and for worse. And here was Evan; lying like flotsum tossed up from the past she had left behind.  
  
Scott laid his hand on the bright white sheets, on the opposite side of the bed to Logan. He didn't want to risk damaging Evan's arm. Speaking softly, he said 'Evan, I'm so sorry.'  
  
If she didn't know better, Kitty would have thought that Evan had never laid eyes on Scott before, he watched him with a stranger's eye, and thought out his response carefully.  
  
'Why are you sorry?' he asked, 'was it you guys that caused all of this?'  
  
This caught them by surprise. In situations such as this, it was common practise to say just how sorry you were, you didn't expect to get asked why, it was just the right thing to say.  
  
This time Rogue did speak. 'No,' she said simply, 'he was after Xavier.'  
  
She gave him no other explanation, but there was no harshness in her tone. Evan's head sank back further into his pillow, and he let out an 'oh'.  
  
Rogue continued. 'We were going to take everyone back home with us. You're welcome to come too, that is, if you're well enough.' She paused, then added 'and if you want to,' almost as an afterthought.  
  
The question sat with Evan for a moment. Out the corner of her eye, Kitty could see Logan watching the boy in the bed very closely.  
  
A few minutes later, Evan gave his answer. 'I'll come with you, but I have a condition.' His face hardened, became steely and unreadable. 'I want to know why you all left the mansion. I want to know what you accused the Professor of, and why you did that, and I want to know how you managed to turn up at the institute at the very time we happened to be attacked, and who exactly it was that killed my aunt.' Strangely enough, he was looking at Scott when he spoke. Kitty supposed that to Evan, Scott was still the leader.  
  
So it was he who replied. 'Fine. We'll stay with you here till you're discharged, and the others can go on ahead, we can join them later.' He looked up at the others, who all gave him signs of assent.  
  
Logan rose. 'Right, I'll go tell them outside, and they can start back. Whatever's happened today, they need to have somewhere proper where they can stay and start to reflect. You four can start explaining.' He squared his shoulders, and threaded his way through the chaos that was the ward.  
  
They watched him go, and then looked back at the boy on the bed. 'All right.' Evan said, 'tell me.'  
  
  
  
The journey back to Bedford was; if possible, even quieter than it had been that morning. The most activity came when they had to get out of the town, and past the barrage of media and police that waited eagerly round the town. They had gotten over this obstacle by Mystique changing into none other than Charles Xavier, who proceeded to tell the authorities that he was taking his charges away from the disaster area to stay with a trusted friend of his up North. At that time of night, nobody was in a fit state to question anything, and mercifully few cameras flashed in their direction as they drove past.  
  
The new arrivals to the town were not really in the mood to be taking in their change of surroundings, and even the situation and appearance of their new home failed to make any great impression on them. Mystique led them wearily to a small collection of guest rooms on the first floor of the house, and got Pietro, Lance, Fred and Todd to help her in ensuring there were enough beds for everyone.  
  
There was no fuss made over who shared what room. Boys took one, girls the other, and there was a bathroom adjacent to both. Wasting no time, the teenagers retired for what would doubtless be a sleepless night. Tabby decided to bunk down with the girls that night, because Kitty and Rogue were not there, and nobody had a particular desire to be left alone.  
  
Mystique and the remaining boys made their way down to the kitchen, and grouped together round the table in a daze. Mystique busied herself around the room, making steaming mugs of coffee, even though she and everyone else detested the stuff. It just seemed like the thing to do.  
  
They supposed they should be having a detailed and important conversation, but they just couldn't seem to get their mouths open (except for Fred, who had got himself a bowl of cereal). Eventually, after several failed attempts at conversation, Fred and Todd went up to bed, closely followed by Mystique, who would in all likelihood have to register several new students the next day at school, though it was pretty clear they would all be taking the day off. Lance and Pietro said they would stay up and wait to see if the others returned, and soon found themselves to be the only people left in the kitchen.  
  
Lance switched on a small television that sat in the corner of the counter. He and Pietro watched for a few moments, as they saw familiar scenes flickering before their eyes.  
  
He moved away from the TV and sat back down next to Pietro. 'Big news isn't it?' he remarked, as casually as was humanely possible.  
  
'Sure' Pietro replied, 'it's not everyday a violent group of mutants turn up and completely wipe a town off the map.' He sounded light.  
  
'It's going to look really bad for mutants now, if the people up here find out who we are, then there's going to be a hell of a lot of trouble for us all.'  
  
'Rogue dropped a house on someone.' Pietro said abruptly.  
  
'Which is one way of dealing with that trouble I suppose.'  
  
Pietro shut him up with a look. 'She didn't even break a sweat, just raised her hand in the air. And I was almost killed just running at that, thing. How can I be a protective boyfriend, with a girlfriend who can throw a house on someone? How can I compare?' he didn't really expect the question to be answered.  
  
When Lance spoke this time, he was deadly serious. 'You can't compare, none of us can. Rogue has never before given us any idea before of just how powerful she is. Now she has, and we cannot compare.' He looked sympathetic, but at the same time final. Knowing Pietro as he knew him, and knowing what an egoist he was, it was hard to imagine the size of the inferiority complex he was going through at this point in time.  
  
'There are other ways you can protect her though,' he said, and Pietro looked up at him. 'Be there for her. She's one of the most powerful people in the planet, but she's also a sixteen-year-old girl. What she saw today must have hurt her; probably a hell of a lot more than it affected us. So be there for her, like we all try to be. It's the only real way in which we can help her.'  
  
Pietro was looking at him in a funny way. 'Lance' he asked gently, 'have you been reading Kitty's girly advice columns again?'  
  
Avalanche smacked his friend lightly on the arm, but not before noting the thanks in Pietro's light eyes. He supposed he had changed and become more sensitive quite a bit over the past few months. They all had, ever since that day when Rogue had gone missing. It seemed like such a long time ago. He put his changes down to Kitty mostly; she had an influence that would wear even the most resolute of people down. God he missed her at a time like this, missed having to hug her and tell her everything was going to be all right. And they'd only been apart a few hours. It was partly this new type of feeling that had caused him to willingly become such a rock for others.  
  
'So' Pietro said into the silence, 'what if they do find out about us up here. What's going to happen?'  
  
Lance sighed, desperate times called for desperate measures. Reaching across and patting Pietro lightly on the shoulder, he spoke comfortingly.  
  
'Everything's going to be all right.'  
  
Damn, if the guys back home could see him now.  
  
  
  
The last car pulled into the mansion driveway in the earlier hours of the next morning. Evan sat with Kurt, Rogue and Kitty in the back, his arm firmly cast and held in a sling. Scott sat up front with Logan, constantly turning in his seat to look back at them. Kitty was dozing, her head leaning against the window, her elbow digging into Kurt. He himself was asleep, and draped across his sister haphazardly. She was not sleeping, instead sitting rigidly still, and watching Evan out the corner of her eye, who seemed more interested in looking out of the window than anything else.  
  
  
  
When they pushed the front door open quietly, they could hear something coming from the kitchen. Putting a finger to her lips, Rogue moved swiftly and silently to the room, and had to bite back a peal of tired laughter as she looked in.  
  
Pietro and Lance were both asleep, their heads so close they were touching, and both collapsed on the table surface. She wasn't sure who was causing it, but a distinct snoring sound came from their direction. She could see a couple of strands of Pietro's silvery hair were rising and falling as he breathed.  
  
Kitty stretched her arms out, and let out a yawn, before moving towards her boyfriend. Scott saw this, and motioned for him and Kurt to take Evan and Logan up to their room, being that they weren't sure whether there were any guest rooms left. Kurt blinked groggily several times, then followed him without fuss, showing that he clearly hadn't realised yet that he and Scott would be sleeping on the couches that night.  
  
Rogue watched them go, and looked back into the kitchen in time to see Kitty startle Lance awake. Before he could make a cry of surprise, she kissed him softly on the lips, and he responded by instinct. A brief, and tiny smile crossed his face as he looked at her, and then took in the sight of Rogue standing in the doorway. Then the smile faded, as reality came flooding back to him.  
  
'How is he?' he asked.  
  
'He's not going to get over it.' Kitty said truthfully, 'but he's not alone, so that's good. Come on, I'll walk you upstairs.' The two of them left quietly, and Rogue gave them a little wave of goodnight, then sat down in Lance's empty seat.  
  
Pietro was waking up now, shaking his head a little. He pulled himself up and found himself looking into Rogue's face.  
  
'Hey' she said, reaching out her hand to gently brush away the mussed up strands of silver that fell across his forehead. He watched her gesture carefully, as though not quite sure that they had finished their argument.  
  
'I wanted to say to you, before all this, that I love you so much.' Rogue said, keeping her hand on his forehead, 'But I cannot tell you who it was that was calling me.'  
  
Pietro nodded sadly, and then moved his head downwards to kiss her hand gently. It was a tender, loving gesture, but it did nothing to convince the two of them that the gap between them had been breached.  
  
'I love you too,' he murmured, 'more than life itself.'  
  
It was enough. Rogue broke down completely, falling into his arms as though dropped from a great height. He stroked her hair softly and let her cry, remembering Lance's words to him earlier that night. This was the only way possible he could help Rogue, loving her. He couldn't keep asking her questions anymore, not if it was going to drive her away. He held her carefully, afraid she might break, and they stayed like that until the sun rose and dried what tears remained on their faces, both resigned to their fate.  
  
  
  
DISCLAIMER: Characters and situation property of Marvel and WB  
  
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Short chapter this time, because I decided to split it into two segments, one that dealt with the aftermath of the destruction of Bayville, and one that moved on again with the story. So things should perhaps be a little more lighthearted next chapter. Kitty is going to have great fun at her sleep over, and Scott's going to have to do some explaining to Lydia. So, see you next chapter (hopefully pretty soon), and as ever, read and review!! 


	8. A bit of catching up, and a few little p...

Chapter 8  
  
Things didn't even start to retain some sense of normality until at least Tuesday, where the new students followed their old friends somewhat reluctantly through the gates of Bedford High, bar Evan, who was still by no means ready to face the outside world again. As had been thought, Mystique went to register her new charges as students the day before, and people now began to talk of the old house as though it were some kind of youth scheme place.  
  
Things had been subdued in the house, to say the least. But beneath all the shock, and all the sadness, there were two groups of kids both insanely curious as to seeing what their peers got up to in their absence. Bobby in particular could not help but be a little pleased to see Rogue and Scott and the other X-men again. Though the shock and the numbness of what had happened that day hadn't even begun to fade yet, he couldn't help but be a little glad that his old friends would be there for him when the inevitable did happen.  
  
The others, though slightly less glad to be there than Bobby, were still observing their new surroundings with curiosity. The events of a few months ago had completely bewildered them, and they had known Rahne's death to be nothing more than a senseless tragedy. When Rogue had come storming into the hall that day, and she and the others had left, they hadn't the slightest clue as to why, and the professor had never sought to enlighten them. Most of them had in fact expected to see Jean with them, when they had once more burst through the doors of the mansion.  
  
So it was with some small fascination that they now found themselves standing outside the gates of another new high school, trying to put behind them so quickly the various terrible scenes of the last fourty eight hours. The worst of these had probably been the memorial service held for Storm and all those who had perished so little time ago. Logan lead them in their mourning, looking more gentle and expressive than most the young mutants were ever likely to see him. He spoke not only of a brave and noble woman, but also of somebody who had been a good friend to him. Evan watched the proceedings, his face half hidden in shadow, and most tried to ignore the tears which were obviously coursing down his face. He hardly spoke at all for the rest of the day.  
  
Taking this into account, it was hardly surprising that he did not join the others at school the next day. But the new students were anxious to try and retain some sort of normality, and those who had previously been living in the house saw no reason as to not go back.  
  
The older mutants went into the school feeling both protective of the new arrivals, and eager to get back to things. Kitty was reminded of the fact when she saw Lorna and her gang waiting by the entrance for her, she could see their fake smiles from a mile away. Plastering a similar expression onto her tired face, she hugged her books close to her, and made her way towards the giggling group of girls.  
  
Despite all her pretensions, Lorna just couldn't stop her eyebrow rising a little when she saw her 'friend'. Tired dark lines hung suspended from her eyes, and creases of worry marred her normally perky face. Now she thought about it, Kitty hadn't shown up at school yesterday, neither had her friends. Lorna would have been overcome by curiosity, if she actually cared.  
  
'Rough weekend Pryde?' she asked, just a little snidely. This caused the other girl to colour a little, and the others to join their leader in showing their subtle disdain. Kitty pretended not to notice.  
  
Lorna smirked a little. 'Hope you're going to be all right for Friday,' she said, then her face darkened as she saw Kitty's blank look. 'Friday, remember? My party?' Kitty seemed to snap out of it, and stammered back that she'd be fine by then. This seemed to be enough to satisfy Lorna, as she gave a school nod, before sweeping around and leading the others into the school building, stopping only to throw a nasty look at Rogue.  
  
  
  
Standing by the car still, with Lance and Pietro, Rogue took note of the dirty look Lorna gave her before walking into school. She sighed slightly, and looked up at the two boys with a silent appeal in her eyes.  
  
Pietro wrapped his arms around her. 'Don't worry, Kitty will see her for what she really is sometime soon.' He didn't know if this was actually true, but it certainly sounded comforting. Rogue leaned into him a little and nodded her head slightly. Lance was still watching the closed door with dark eyes.  
  
The school bell rang, and Rogue hoped that Bobby and the others would be okay on their first day at Bedford, especially whilst still coming to terms with what had happened that Sunday. She kissed Pietro once, hitting him somewhere between his chin and his mouth, and then made to leave inside, when she caught sight of Lance's face behind him.  
  
She told Pietro she'd follow him in, and watched him walk off, one eyebrow raised pointedly in Lance's direction.  
  
When she was sure her boyfriend was out of earshot, Rogue turned to the other boy. 'What is it?' she asked, even though she had a vague idea already what the answer would be. But apparently, Lance just wanted to set up a time for them to talk, and Rogue agreed to meet him, somewhat reluctantly, just outside the school that lunchtime. At least this was something she could explain to Pietro without having to lie. Her close relationship with Lance was something Pietro had long ago come to accept.  
  
She said her goodbyes, and made her way off to class, her mind hardly less clouded than it had been recently. If she herself didn't really understand what was going on, how could she explain it to anyone else?  
  
  
  
Scott was not having a much better time of things. After the drama of the weekend, he put the thing with Lydia to the back of his mind. It came leaping to the fore however, when he saw her standing further down the hall, a slightly preoccupied expression on her lovely face. Scott strode towards her purposefully, so purposefully in fact, that he rammed into an opening locker, thereby alerting her (and everyone else's) attention to his presence.  
  
If he thought he was going to get sympathy for his aching head, he was very wrong. Lydia took one disgusted look at him, before walking up to him, raising her shoe, and stamping down hard on his foot before marching off down the corridor.  
  
Scott prolonged the sharp stinging in his foot to run after her and call out her name. Lydia turned to face him, her hair swinging from side to side angrily.  
  
'What?' she snapped.  
  
Scott launched into grovelling straight away. 'Lydia I am so sorry, but the girls, I mean, the boy in my room..'  
  
'Who, Kurt?' she asked, and Scott nodded hurriedly. He worked out that he couldn't tell her he had been frozen in his room all day with his closed, so he wouldn't blast the door open, so he decided to think on his feet.  
  
'Yes Kurt,' he said, still nodding, 'You see, he got really sick, and we were worried about him being contagious, so we all had to stay indoors, and.'  
  
'And that is the biggest lie I've ever heard! Do you think I'm stupid or something?' she shouted, not really caring that she was drawing a crowd. Scott made a gesture to start speaking again, but she cut him off.  
  
'No, don't talk to me, in fact don't even look at me. Not until you can give me a damn good reason for why you stood me up, instead out spouting out the lamest lie I've ever heard!' she ended up screaming out loud, before breaking through the crowd and storming off. This time Scott did not dare follow her. He made his way through the whispering masses, and slunk off in the opposite direction, head hanging in gloom.  
  
  
  
The new students of Bedford met together that lunchtime with the old, their minds slightly more pleasantly occupied than they had been recently. They could not really help swapping stories of their mornings, and silently comparing their new habitat, to that of Bayville. Like those who came before them, they felt that the similarities between the two schools were startling, but this didn't stop them from being a little bit excited.  
  
Rogue smiled at them, before Lance motioned for her to move away. She whispered into Pietro's ear where she was going, and watched his slightly perturbed look as he nodded. The two of them walked off together in silence, Kitty watching their progress with slightly narrowed eyes. It was still hard for them, despite everything.  
  
Lance kept walking, and Rogue kept following, until they stopped at a quiet spot, about five minutes walk from the school gates. He came to a halt, and waited for her too to stop before he spoke.  
  
'I'd ask you if you knew what this is about, but I know you already do, so I won't.' he said, needing a point to start off from.  
  
'Are you asking because Pietro told you to, because if he thinks I'm any more likely to tell you.'  
  
'I'm not asking for Pietro! I'm just..' He paused to kick a nearby tree root in frustration. 'I'm worried about you, everyone is.'  
  
She didn't say anything, so he went on. 'Two phone calls; two phone calls that have both upset you beyond belief. And every time someone asks you about it, you lie, you say you can't tell us. And what was the deal with Sunday? We followed you because we trust you, but honestly Rogue, who can believe that you decided to head to Bayville just because you had a dream? And how did you know what that thing's name was? You don't talk, as much anymore, you won't tell the people closest to you anything. What is wrong with you?'  
  
She was looking down at the ground whilst he was speaking, but when he finished, she raised her head. 'I can't tell you.'  
  
Lance felt like banging his head against the tree now, but he held himself back by taking deep breaths. 'And why can't you tell me.'  
  
This seemed to make her think for a moment. Her eyes narrowed in concentration, and then her forehead creased slightly. She shook her head a little bit, as if she didn't understand something herself. 'I don't know.'  
  
'But you won't deny that there's something wrong?' Lance prodded gently, determined to have something to take away from this conversation.  
  
Rogue looked at him in the eyes. 'No, I won't deny there's something wrong. That would be stupid of me. But I can't explain it. I can't explain how I knew those things on Sunday, or what it was about those calls that upset me so much. I just can't.' she looked at him with a lost expression, and Lance felt his anger begin to dissipate.  
  
'Well then,' he said patiently, 'what can we do to help you?'  
  
To this she shrugged her shoulders again. 'I don't know, just be there for me, I guess. Sometimes I feel like.' she blinked as her eyes began to feel prickly, and Lance felt he was making progress.  
  
He pushed her further. He couldn't see her face, for she was now looking at the ground again. 'What do you feel like?' he asked gently.  
  
Rogue raised her face, and he saw the tears in her eyes. 'I feel like I'm sixteen, and I've got the weight of the world on my shoulders.'  
  
It was all the hint Lance needed. He rushed forward, and swept her into a hug. Rogue returned it gratefully, resting her chin in the crook of his shoulders. They stayed in that position for a few moments, and then she spoke softly into his shoulder.  
  
'Don't you just wish sometimes, that it would all stop?'  
  
Lance didn't really know what she meant, so he made a soothing sound but left her question unanswered. After a while, Rogue broke away from him, wiping her eyes.  
  
'I have to stop doing this' she said, giving a mirthless laugh. 'I can't keep on crying like this.'  
  
'Of course you can,' Lance replied easily, 'it would be weird if you didn't. I'm here for you, you know, whenever you need someone.' He trailed off, thinking about what he was saying. Rogue meant so much to him he didn't even want to contemplate it, but she was also his best friend's girlfriend, meaning he had to leave some things between them, despite how much he wanted to help Rogue out. This was the other boys place, not his.  
  
'And there's Pietro too,' he said quickly, 'You know that this is killing him don't you?'  
  
'Of course I do!' Rogue replied forcefully, 'Knowing what I'm doing to him, it's killing me too! But how can I explain something to him that I understand myself.'  
  
'You could tell him what it is you know, he could help you to understand.' Lance suggested. Having resigned himself to keeping some distance between himself and Rogue's troubles, he decided to plead on Pietro's behalf, knowing this would indirectly help the person he thought of as his baby sister.  
  
She looked at him with a lost sort of expression. 'I don't know. I can't explain it. But I can't tell him, not now at least.'  
  
It was the same sort of vague answers Lance had had before, and he knew it would be useless for him to push her any further, in case she got mad at him. The conversation on that subject came staggering to a halt, and instead they moved on to the slightly less serious subject (only slightly), of Kitty and her new friends.  
  
On this they were both in agreement, caught between disbelief at Kitty being so blind, and open hatred for Lorna and co. when trying to decide what to do about it however, both of them were stumped, beyond of course acts of violence which would hardly help the mutant cause if carried out.  
  
They made up their minds to see what happened with this party on Friday, to which of course they hadn't been invited. Lance was a bit worried about Kitty being around so many jocks, but he agreed not to go to the house and spy on her, leaving Kitty to deal with the situation on her own as much as possible. Both of them were decided however, that should revenge against the preppy girls be necessary, they would be more than happy to be the ones to carry it out.  
  
They started walking back to school, talking about pretty much everything, and steering clear of any serious subjects as much as possible. By the time they got back to school, they were talking not about how the new students had come to be in Bedford, but about how they would settle in now they were here. Rogue for one was very glad that Bobby was here; of all the things she'd left behind in Bayville, he had been the one she'd missed most.  
  
  
  
  
  
Bobby was in fact guiltily enjoying his first day at the new school. He felt free of the duties and responsibilities he'd had back at the institute, where people had expected him to be the one to lead. He'd lived up to their expectations mainly because he hated knowing if he didn't he'd disappoint them, and also because he'd promised Rahne. He had followed the task he had laid before himself rigidly, but it had worn him down, and now he was looking forward to being able to blend into the back ground just a little bit.  
  
He and Amara were making their way toward Math, a subject that made Bobby's face screw up in disgust. He still had yet to really talk to Rogue, which he was also kind of looking forward to. She'd probably been his best friend before she'd taken off, and he was pretty certain that it had been the professor who had been at fault instead of her, but he had always been afraid to ask him. He hadn't been the same since that day.  
  
The two of them found the room together, and waited until the class filled up before finding empty seats. The teacher had still to arrive, so they tried to involve themselves in the talk surrounding them. As they were new kids, the others were fairly happy to oblige.  
  
'Hey,' said one girl, her blonde ponytail bouncing enthusiastically as she spoke. 'I'm Susan, and you are?'  
  
'This is Bobby, and I'm Amara.' His friend made the introductions, and Bobby watched apprehensively as Susan leant back to the girl next to her. She whispered something to her, and both girls nodded and burst out into giggles.  
  
The other looked up at Bobby from under her thick fringe, and gave him an impish smile. 'You're so cute!' she burst out, and they burst into laughter again. Bobby felt the heat creeping up his face, as the other girls quietly voiced their agreement and the other guys in the class were starting the smirk a little.  
  
Amara gave him a little nudge. He looked at her, and she gave him a little wink, to let him know he had an ally. Bobby felt a little better.  
  
Susan moved on swiftly. 'Say, did you guys hear about what happened in that town on Sunday?'  
  
Her friend joined in eagerly. 'Bayville I think. The whole place was destroyed, loads of people died.'  
  
Susan hung her head seriously. 'Slaughtered like animals, it was terrible.'  
  
Bobby could feel Amara tensing up by his side.  
  
Susan didn't seem to sense her discomfort. 'The police think it was mutants that did it, wouldn't surprise me.'  
  
Bobby could see where this was leading, and by the way that her hands were now shaking, he felt Amara could as well.  
  
And the girls still hadn't had their last word. 'I hope they get what's coming to them. They deserve to pay for what they do to us!'  
  
'They should blow them up, see what they think about the way they treat normal people when it's done to them!'  
  
This was enough. Amara started crying, much to the shock and surprise of the Math class. The teacher who had finally stumbled into the room watched with ill-disguised curiosity, and Bobby put his arm around her comfortingly, thinking fast because the class was now silent and waiting for explanations.  
  
'Her parents were killed in the attack.' He explained softly, so Amara couldn't hear and question his lie. The others all reacted.  
  
'Oh my gosh!' Susan said, 'Poor girl! And she's back at school already!' she spoke so loudly as to make Amara start and look up. Bobby gave her a meaningful stare, to say he was doing some explaining, and she resumed crying without another word.  
  
Susan's friend had even less discretion than she did. She sat up straight, struck by something she thought was a realisation, and leant over to talk excitedly to Bobby. 'That's why you're all here isn't it? That's what that house is now. It's an orphanage!' she sounded almost triumphant.  
  
Bobby didn't hasten to correct her, and just hoped he'd be able to put the story around everyone else before they were all questioned en masse. He felt terrible lying like this, but what else was there to do?  
  
He asked permission to take Amara outside for a few minutes to calm down, and the teacher readily agreed. She and Bobby left the classroom amidst whispers and meaningful stares from people who knew now that they were not the normal new students.  
  
Yep, thought Bobby as he led Amara away. This place is exactly like Bayville.  
  
  
  
The adults of the house didn't have nearly as much to keep them occupied that day. Logan got up fairly late, and made his first priority to check on Evan. He found him much as he expected he would, quiet and still in complete shock. This was going to take him years to get over.  
  
He made his way somewhat reluctantly down to the kitchen, where he knew Mystique was. Unlike the younger mutants, he just wasn't as well equipped to put years of animosity behind him, despite the fact that he now owed Mystique a great deal.  
  
He scratched his head slightly. A lot of things had confused him in the past few days, so much so that he didn't want to think about it right now, if ever. He was surprised to say the least, when he came to the bottom step, and felt the wafting aroma of pancakes and syrup floating through the bottom floor of the house.  
  
Logan walked into the kitchen, feeling a little bit incredulous. Mystique was standing over the hob, intently flipping what looked to be some of the most appetising pancakes Wolverine had ever seen.  
  
She looked a little bit thrown by his sudden entrance, as though she wasn't used to interruptions at this time of the day. 'I was just going to call you down. Do you want some?' she gestured towards the pan, and Logan hardly hesitated a moment before mumbling his assent and sitting down at the table. Mystique placed a plate before him, and heaped a few pancakes onto the plate, before putting the bottle of maple syrup in front of him.  
  
Logan ate eagerly, and couldn't stop himself from making a sigh of satisfaction when the food touched his mouth.  
  
If he didn't know any better, he'd have said Mystique had looked pleased at his reaction to her cooking.  
  
She turned back to the pan, and spoke to him over her shoulder. 'After cooking for nine kids day in day out, I can safely say I have mastered the art of pancakes.'  
  
Logan didn't really know how to reply to this, so he carried on eating in silence. The lack of conversation was half awkward, half companionable, and neither really made a great attempt at conversation. Neither of them really had it problem with it either.  
  
  
  
  
  
The students came back from school in mixed spirits that night. Kurt and Tabby were both trying to push aside their grief by being as high spirited as ever, and the newer students were both coming to terms with their new situation, and quite excited to be talking about it. Bobby had told them all what had happened in Math, and instead of being angry, most of them were impressed by his quick thinking, and surprised that they themselves hadn't thought of that explanation before. Stares of sympathy from people were almost the same as stares of curiosity.  
  
Pietro and Rogue were behaving much the same as Tabby and Kurt, trying so hard to pretend everything was normal, and making it painfully obvious that this was not so. Lance watched them from behind, standing with Kitty and listening to her talk about her friends so blankly that he didn't notice the change in tone as she was speaking. Eventually Kitty realised he wasn't paying attention, and gave him a light kick in the shins as punishment. Lance was slightly surprised she hadn't kicked him harder.  
  
Fred and Todd had decided to stumble though the day in their usual good-natured daze, and were probably the most normal of the group at that moment in time. Scott on the other hand went into the house silently and shut himself in his room. He did not come down to dinner that night.  
  
Kurt decided to risk seeing him a little while after dessert, and left the larger but more subdued kitchen to venture upstairs and see his friend. Knocking softly, even though it was his own bedroom, he walked inside and found Scott sitting miserably on his bed, head held in both hands.  
  
Kurt plopped down beside him, completely at a loss. He settled for patting him lightly on the back, and making a general enquiry as to what was wrong with him.  
  
Scott gave him a withering sort of glance, before staring at the floor and looking as though the world were about to end, which gave Kurt a good hint as to what was wrong with him.  
  
'Did something happen with that girl you like, Lydia?' he said, giving himself a mental pat on the back for remembering the name.  
  
Scott sat up straight, and flung a pillow listlessly across the room. 'Yeah, something happened, or more, it didn't?'  
  
Kurt furrowed his brow a little. 'What?'  
  
'She thinks I stood her up! All thanks to your damn sister. I was meant to meet her for a date on Saturday, and now she doesn't want to have anything to do with me!' He held his foot for Kurt to inspect, and he saw a plastered toe, which he could only guess was the result of his conversation with Lydia.  
  
'Didn't you tell her why you couldn't make it?' he asked helpfully. Scott gave him a look that clearly said he'd never met anyone as stupid before in his life.  
  
'Yes I did, I just told her that my friend got mad because we all snuck out and went drinking, and so she used her mutant powers to ice us in our rooms for the day.'  
  
Kurt had the grace to look a little abashed, and Scott resumed his morose staring.  
  
'Can't you make up something?' he asked.  
  
'Unfortunately, I'm just not that good at lying; I haven't really had much practise at it. And she won't have anything to do with me now. I've blown it. The first girl I've really liked who liked me back, and I've blown it.' he threw himself on the covers in desperation.  
  
Kurt had no idea how to remedy this, but was saved from replying further by Rogue, who appeared in the door. Scott took one look at her, before turning over and lying face first in the covers.  
  
Rogue gave an enquiring look in her brother's direction, and he launched into explanation. 'Your freeze thing meant he missed a date with that Lydia girl.'  
  
Rogue too looked very sorry. She approached the bed cautiously, fully aware that Scott probably wasn't happy with her at the moment. 'I'm so sorry Scott, is there anything I can do to make this better.'  
  
Kurt replied for him. 'Not really. She chewed him out and stamped on his foot.'  
  
Rogue visibly winced, and Scott looked at Kurt angrily. 'That bad huh?' she asked. Scott was praying the elf would say no more of his troubles.  
  
'Worse.' Kurt said. 'She said she didn't want anything to do with him from now on.'  
  
Scott looked between the two of them in frustration. 'Must you tell her absolutely everything? This is bad enough as it is.'  
  
'We're family.' Rogue retorted.  
  
'Family share.' Kurt added flippantly.  
  
Scott threw himself back onto the bed again.  
  
  
  
Rogue and Kurt made their way quietly out the room, and gave each other guilty looks in the hall way.  
  
'This is all my fault.' Rogue said, leaning against the wall.  
  
'True' Kurt agreed. Rogue threw him a warning look.  
  
'I wasn't even really mad at him, and now I've ruined it all for him. We need to sort things out between him and Lydia, she seems like a really nice girl.'  
  
Kurt looked at her in confusion. 'We?' he asked faintly.  
  
Rogue responded with a firm nod. 'Yes we. You are going to help me whether you like it or not.'  
  
Despite the fact that he was the older brother, having a little sister who could throw a house at you without really breaking sweat kind of cancelled out the age factor, and Kurt readily agreed to Rogue's suggestion. He nodded reluctantly.  
  
'Good. I think what we need to do is get them alone together, somewhere where she can't really storm off, preferably out of school. I'll have a word with her too; make up something or other that she'll have to believe. I'll leave the idea of getting them alone together to you.' She looked pointedly at him, and Kurt rushed to offer his services.  
  
Rogue brightened a bit. 'Excellent. Nice talking to you, oh brother of mine, but now I have to go talk to someone.' She strode off down the corridor, to where Kurt had no idea. It suddenly occurred to him how little he really knew about his sister. He lived with her, he got on with her, but he didn't know her really, not in the same way that Lance and Pietro and Kitty did. He supposed it was something both he and his mother would have to work on.  
  
  
  
The sound of the door knock brought Bobby back from his half asleep state. He looked up sharply as the door creaked open, and gave a surprised smile when he saw Rogue's face in the door. 'Hey' she said lightly.  
  
'Hey yourself' he replied.  
  
She grinned, and walked completely into the room, sitting down with him. 'I'd ask how things were, but I know they're not good, so I don't think I will.'  
  
'I could say the same for you.' Rogue gave a tired smile to that. Even though he'd only been in the house a couple of days, Bobby knew enough of her to know there was something wrong. She hadn't realised before just how much she had missed him.  
  
'Tell me everything.' He asked of her, and so Rogue launched into an explanation of everything that had happened to her over the last few months. Bobby was the perfect listener. He looked shocked at the appropriate places, and laughed aloud when she told him about their revenge.  
  
'You actually froze them in their rooms?' he said between gasps of laughter.  
  
'It was pretty damn funny to hear their screams as we were driving away.' Rogue agreed. 'Though it meant Scott missed a date with this girl he likes at school, and now she doesn't want anything to do with him.'  
  
  
  
'Wow,' Bobby said, 'He actually likes someone else. I thought he'd never get over Jean, or you.' He looked as though he were afraid he'd said something wrong.  
  
'I'm actually quite glad to see him upset over someone else.' Rogue confessed. 'God that sounded harsh.'  
  
Bobby laughed at her. 'Don't worry about it. I was the only one to hear, and I know you're a bitch!'  
  
Rogue gave a mock frown, and used a pillow to bash him round the arm. Bobby picked up the other pillow, and joined in.  
  
The fight was reaching epic proportions, when Pietro wandered into the room. He couldn't make out the figures at first through the flurry of feathers, and when the debris settled, he had no trouble in working out what had gone on. He laughed a little, seeing that Bobby was the clear loser of the fight.  
  
He addressed the younger boy good-naturedly. 'Some advice. Never ever pick a pillow fight with her. It's just asking for trouble.'  
  
Rogue raised her slightly empty pillowcase above her head, and arched her eyebrow at him. 'Care to try your luck?'  
  
Within a second he was by her side, lifting her up in a fire mans lift. 'Don't worry, I'll give you time to recover.' Bobby laughed lightly as Rogue was carried out the room, banging her fists against her boyfriend's back in protest.  
  
  
  
  
  
When they were finally on the upstairs landing, Pietro set Rogue down in an undignified heap, her hair mussed up all over the place. She folded her arms and scowled at him like a child.  
  
Pietro rolled his eyes and crouched down on the floor next to her. Looking at her tenderly, he moved the hair out of her face gently, and leant in closer to her face.  
  
Rogue was no longer scowling playfully now. She was losing herself in the eyes she'd lost herself in so willingly so many times before.  
  
Pietro reached out his hand, and pulled something from her messy hair. 'You have feathers in your hair.' He said softly.  
  
Rogue barely heard him, she reached out for him, and his lips met hers in soft embrace, growing in power and intensity until Rogue thought she would burst with love for him.  
  
When at last they pulled back, both watched each other with glazed expressions and dreamy smiles, that reminded Rogue of what it had been like when they'd first gotten together, and just what it was like to love someone so completely. At this moment in time, she firmly believed there was nothing in the world that would ever prove too much for them.  
  
From his eyes, she knew he felt the same. They were leaning in to kiss again, when there was a cough from behind. Sam was standing at the top of the stairs, with an envelope in his hand and a wistful expression on his face.  
  
'Sorry, but um, Rogue, somebody found this on the doorstep. Must have been brought round whilst we were at dinner.'  
  
Rogue took it with shaking fingers, making a pretty good guess as to what the contents of the envelope were, or more accurately, whom they were from. Without another word, she ran off down the corridor to her own room, slamming the door behind her and locking it without touching it, for she knew Pietro would not be far behind her.  
  
Trembling, she removed the contents, and looked at the writing on the small slip of paper in front of her.  
  
THE TIME HAS COME, MEET ME AT NO. 50 BAXTER ST. NINE O CLOCK.  
  
The words were simple, and the instructions clear. Rogue could hear banging on the door behind her, and looked to the locked window. She ran to it and with both hands tried to force it open. It wouldn't budge.  
  
The bangings were growing more insistent, and the door was starting to rattle slightly. Rogue tried once more to open the window, and then slapped herself on the head for forgetting who she was.  
  
Without another moments thought, she teleported out of the room.  
  
  
  
Pietro was now convinced he had the worst luck in the world. For the first time in ages, he had felt like he and Rogue were really together, properly, and now another thing had come along and shattered the happiness he had been feeling so little recently. He pursued her down the hallway with Sam, who looked even more confused than he felt, but by the time they arrived, even with Pietro's powers they had been too slow. The door was shut, and in all likelihood locked too. This was confirmed when they tried to forced the door, and it would not move.  
  
They could hear her inside, running about the room frantically. Shouting her name, he and Sam ran at the door together, and his it with resounding thuds. It was beginning to show under the strain, but gave no other signs of giving in.  
  
They tried again, and again, not noticing that it had suddenly gotten a bit quieter beyond the barrier. By this time, the noise had attracted the other members of the household, who watched the scene before them in varying states of shock and confusion.  
  
A few tries later, Fred motioned for them to get out of the way, and ran at the door. It fell open before him, and they crowed into the forced room.  
  
Immediately they all saw the same thing. That Rogue was gone.  
  
  
  
Rogue was perfectly aware of the commotion that had probably been caused by her behaviour, and made a note to fix the door that would no doubt have been broken to get into the room by now. She, like Pietro, was cursing her luck, but she also felt a tugging sense of curiosity to get answers that she needed so much.  
  
After teleporting a park in the centre of town, where most people wouldn't dream of going, she proceeded to go by the directions of those who weren't drunk to find out where Baxter street actually was. She found it fairly soon, it was dimly lit, and held identical housing lined up on either side of the street. Rogue moved along it as quietly as possible, coming to a stop by a darkened building, with a small 'no. 50' sign hammered into the ground. Rubbing her hands together, Rogue walked up the small driveway, and knocked once on the plain blue door.  
  
It was answered remarkably quickly, even though she was a quarter of an hour early. A face appeared in the darkness, and as Rogue grew accustomed to the dim light, she recognised the face, and let out the breath she'd been holding in.  
  
'Oh' she said resignedly. 'Long time no see Irene.'  
  
DISCLAIMER: Characters and situation are property of Marvel and WB  
  
AUTHORS NOTE: Hoorah! That was the quickest I've updated in a while! Shorter chapter too, I kind of like them this way. Next chapter, I'm not too sure what's happening! I've decided to change something in this story, and I just have to work out where it will all fit in, so bear with me! Thanks, and don't forget, please please please review!!! 


	9. A confrontation, and a few changes being...

Chapter 9  
  
Rogue was holding onto a very thin shred of hope that her fellow occupants of the house would have gone to bed by the time she cracked open the front door and crept inside. She was wrong even to think that. The moment she clicked the door shut, a light flipped on in the room, and she could see most of them waiting for her on the stairs.  
  
Not now, she thought listlessly. I can't deal with this now.  
  
Mystique was at the fore, arms folded tightly over her chest. Rogue noticed that those behind her had drawn back slightly in fear, and Rogue couldn't really blame them, her mother was a formidable sight when she was angry. Her eyebrows furrowed, Mystique eyed her daughter dangerously.  
  
'Well?' she asked, her voice dripping like slowly melting ice.  
  
'Well what?' Rogue snapped back, wearing an almost identical expression to her mother. Anyone who had doubted the connection before couldn't fail to see it now.  
  
Mystique eyed her with an almost dumbstruck expression. 'You think you can storm out of her and have everyone worried sick about you for hours, then swan in and pretend nothing's happened?'  
  
Rogue tried to push past them and up the stairs, but found her way being barred by Logan. 'Tell us what's going on Stripes.' he said, and there was no laughter in his voice when he used that once familiar nickname.  
  
She eyed him coolly. 'I don't have to tell you anything.' she declared. Logan's eyebrow's raised slightly. Rogue would hardly have dared to be so forward back at the institute. Things in the group that had left the mansion had certainly changed since they'd stormed out, but Logan had yet to put a finger on what the cause of it was.  
  
'I strongly disagree with that.' Mystique said back quickly. 'For a few weeks now I've watched you Rogue, watched you withdraw and close in on yourself. I've watched you be troubled by something you feel you have to keep to yourself, and I've seen you push away the people who want to help you most in the world. Stop it, this isn't you.'  
  
'And what would you know about that?' Rogue hissed. She wheeled around and faced off with the older woman. 'What the hell would you know about me? You haven't been around long enough to even have a clue. You know nothing.' She spat the words out finally, and Mystique looked at her as though she'd been slapped, falling back through weeks of building bridges between mother and daughter.  
  
Lance stepped into the void, filling the sudden hush that had descended upon the room. 'Well I know you, and Mystique is right. This isn't you, and we're not letting you go until you give us some answers.' He stood tall beside Logan, and the other man had to admit to a grudging respect for the teenager. He looked at what was possibly the most powerful mutant on the planet when she was angry, and there was absolutely no fear in his face.  
  
Rogue moved ever so closer to them, and the air around her seemed to crackle with her efforts to keep control. 'Get out of my way Lance, or I swear I will move you myself.'  
  
Lance did move then, but out of pure shock more than anything else. Never, in all the time he had known her, had Rogue seriously threatened to use her powers on any of her friends, especially not since her birthday. She was obsessed with all of their safety. This was most definitely the Rogue he knew who stood at the top of the stairs now, looking down on them with a tired glare.  
  
'Stay there and discuss my behaviour if you want, I'm going to bed.' She took two steps, and then called back over her shoulder. 'Don't even think about following me Pietro.'  
  
Pietro, who had been coming up close behind her, stopped in his tracks, and sat down on the top step with a thud. Rogue continued down the corridor without another word.  
  
They waited in silence until she had fully departed, before they let out the collective breath they had been holding. They looked to each other with hopeless gazes, thinking that their friend was beyond the reach of anyone, and without a clue of what to do about it.  
  
  
  
It was later in the night, and Mystique still hadn't been able to sleep. She had done some tossing, mixed in with a little bit of turning, but she couldn't sleep a wink. She was worried about her daughter, more worried than she'd ever been before.  
  
Rogue had been very angry on the stairs, about what she didn't know. She didn't know if the others had spotted it too, but she'd seen something going on under the furious exterior of the young girl. Part extreme tiredness, part something else that she just couldn't put her finger on.  
  
Seeing the moon still shining white in the darkened sky outside, Mystique gave up the prospect of sleep, and walked to the window to get a closer look at the outside, and to have a bit of a think.  
  
She threw open the window, and stuck her head out into the cool night air, feeling any last hope of sleep evaporate from her skin. She closed her eyes, and tried to absorb herself in nothing but the silence, but she was halted in her purpose by a noise beneath her, quiet and heartbreaking at the same time. Somebody was crying.  
  
Curiosity got the better of her, and Mystique ventured out her room. The moonlight cast bizarre shadows on the walls, and twisted normal objects into new sculptures, but Mystique followed nothing but the sound of the sobbing. It sounded like a child.  
  
Fairly certain the person was somewhere outside, Mystique pushed open the door that previously Rogue had entered through. She half hoped, half expected to see her daughter huddled in the porch of the house, crouched over and crying like the world had suddenly come to an end.  
  
You could imagine her shock when she saw that the figure was actually Pietro. Hunched over, and weeping openly.  
  
He started when he saw Mystique standing over him, and reached immediately to dry the tracks of tears running down his face.  
  
Mystique didn't want to humiliate him any further by drawing attention to the fact he had been sobbing, and waited the few moments it took for him to be able to speak.  
  
When he opened his mouth, the words came out as a hoarse crackle. 'You're up late.' he observed.  
  
'So are you' Mystique shot back, 'probably for the same reason.' she added.  
  
Pietro gave the ghost of a smile, and turned his head to look away. 'I'm sorry I woke you. I would have stayed upstairs, only, well Lance. I mean, he's a great friend, but he doesn't, I mean he never...'  
  
Mystique smiled as he trailed off. 'You didn't wake me. I couldn't sleep.' she then gave a little laugh.  
  
'What's so funny?' Pietro demanded, his cheeks flushing a little brighter than they already were.  
  
Mystique didn't answer him directly; instead she gave him a quick searching look. 'You know, you're probably the person who's changed most since you met her.' She didn't need to explain who 'her' was.  
  
Pietro shrugged. 'We've all changed.'  
  
Mystique nodded. 'For the better.'  
  
Pietro was silent for a moment. 'The one thing I want to do in the world is help her. I never thought I would say that about anyone. And what scares me the most is that there's nothing I can offer her anymore. Why is she still with me?' He asked the question as though Mystique were not in the room.  
  
'Because she loves you, and that's the thing I think she needs most of all.' Mystique replied, before rising slowly and turning to go into the porch, and to think over the gentlest conversation she'd ever had. Pietro was right, they had all changed, and it was mainly because of Rogue.  
  
She told Pietro to turn the lights back on, and walked back into the house without another word. She was more surprised still when she saw Rogue at the foot of the stair. There were rings around her eyes that she hadn't noticed before.  
  
'I heard crying, and talking.' Rogue said, by way of explanation. Her speech was short and awkward, mainly to do with their argument of earlier, that Mystique had yet to go over because it gave her feelings unpleasant and unknown to her.  
  
'Pietro's outside, if you want to talk to him,' Mystique responded, feeling like a teenager again. Both women stood on the brink of saying something, then seemed to think better of it and passed each other by with a curt nod. Mystique stayed after Rogue closed the front door behind her, and hoped that someone would be able to break through the mask she'd painted around her, even if it wasn't her.  
  
Pietro looked up when the door clicked open again, thinking Mystique had forgotten to tell him something. He felt his breath catch in his throat when he saw Rogue at the door, just like the first few weeks when he had started falling in love with her. More things had changed than just them.  
  
He opened his mouth to say something, but she stepped up to him quickly and placed a finger over his lips, and then leaned in close to him. But this time Pietro wasn't going to be silenced.  
  
He sighed, and then spoke. 'We can't keep going on like this.' He said. 'We're going round in circles.'  
  
She spoke as though she hadn't heard him. 'When I was a little girl, I used to hate summer.' she said dreamily, and Pietro wondered where she was heading, 'All the girls in school would wander in with their skirts and t- shirts and sandals, and do you know what I wore?' She didn't pause long enough for him to answer. 'I wore a sweatshirt and long jeans with boots, and I used to hate how the other kids laughed at me, it was the first time I started to feel abnormal.' She gave a little laugh. 'I think Irene was afraid my powers could manifest, and she wanted to protect me.' The ironic laughter grew. 'Great job!' she said sarcastically.  
  
Pietro was now slightly worried about his girlfriend's sanity. She turned her head slightly, so she looked into his face. 'Do you what my first thought was when I realised I could touch?' He shook his head slowly, and she laughed again. 'No, I don't either, because I took it for granted so quickly. Sixteen years of feeling something less than human, and after a week of normalcy I'd completely forgotten where I came from.'  
  
'I don't want to take this for granted anymore.' She gestured between the two of them. 'I love you, that should matter to me more than most things in the world. I don't want to take it for granted that I have you, that I can touch you. And recently I've done everything in my power to push that away, and I don't know how to explain why, and I can't guarantee that I won't in the future.'  
  
On hearing her say that she loved him, Pietro leant in to kiss her face, and she responded fleetingly. 'I've found out things about myself recently, things that I'd rather not have had to think about. But I have these powers for a reason. I have to look after people, and it's not because it's who I am, it's because of who I've become.'  
  
Pietro shook his head, and kissed her chin clumsily. 'I want to look after you too, we all do. We all should.'  
  
Rogue looked at him with a sad smile, and relaxed finally into his embrace. Pietro let out a sigh of relief, feeling inside that he had broken through somehow, not completely, but that she was finally trying to let him in. The last of the tears dried on his face as he held her to him and he went to sleep that night with a weary smile on his face. If he'd been slightly less relieved, he would have seen the torture in her smile, and the slight misting in those eyes he loved so much.  
  
Rogue wasn't quite so fortunate in the department of sleep for the short remainder of that night. She lay in her bed, staring vacantly at the ceiling, and trying to make sense of the events of that evening, feeling slightly better knowing that she'd put Pietro's mind at rest, and feeling also that she couldn't keep it so.  
  
It was all a bit of a blur; there had been a surprisingly small amount of small talk, and a great deal of shouting, and somewhere in between that her world had collapsed and fallen out from under her. She couldn't tell the others what Destiny had told her, she wouldn't tell them. This was something she had to accept and face up to alone, no matter what the cost.  
  
Rogue went to sleep with tears running down her face.  
  
DISCLAIMER: Characters belong to Marvel and WB  
  
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Short chapter, because I just needed to finish off that night before I carried on with the rest of the story. What did Irene say to Rogue? I hear you ask. All in good time!! Next chapter should follow very soon, so keep reviewing!!! 


	10. A sleepover, and a the acting out of pla...

Chapter 10  
  
The day dawned bright and early, to the slight reluctance of many in the house. One more day of school to be faced before the weekend. Bleary eyes and awkward silences greeted them in the kitchen, as most were not quite sure of what to make of last nights scene. Rogue ate her breakfast in silence, staring into space in a manner none of them could fathom. She smiled briefly as Pietro zoomed in and gave her a clumsy kiss on the forehead, before reverting back to her reverie. Lance looked up at her from his cup, and then glanced back down before she even noticed.  
  
The group that entered the cars to go to school that day was a subdued one. Those who had witnessed the episode on the stairs still did not know what to say or how to act, and those who had gone to bed only knew that something was very wrong, but weren't knowledgeable enough about it to make comment. Mystique opened her car door for Rogue to get in, but she took Pietro's hand and led him to the seat behind Logan. Mystique stood unsure of what to do, so Lane walked quickly from behind Rogue and climbed into the open car.  
  
Other than the rather less than normal start, the morning passed in what was deemed a fairly average way. Kitty went about squealing with enthusiasm over the upcoming party that evening, and Lance followed her from a distance, watching doggedly as the school football team approached the group and a quarterback leant in to tell her how much he was looking forward to gate crashing the party. Lance gave the guy what he hoped was a clear death glare, before hiding behind a pillar when Kitty turned in his direction. He saw Rogue across another side of the courtyard, looking as though she was following Kurt, and studiously ignored her. He'd put off talking to her until he was certain Kitty wasn't going to be running off with anyone named Brock or Brick etc.  
  
He was right though; Rogue was following Kurt, unbeknownst to her brother. She said she had something she had to see to, to Pietro, and then took of into the throng of students, Kurt's head in her clear line of vision. She watched him walk hand in hand with Tabby down the hallway, then smiled as he kissed his girlfriend and followed her with his eyes into her most recent appointment with the principal, a goofy smile on his face. She then followed him at a quicker pace, sneaking up behind him as the stream of people trickled out. She then grabbed his hand and dragged him into a deserted classroom before anyone could bat an eyelid.  
  
Kurt was in the beginning process of crying out, when he saw who his captor was. He frowned slightly at Rogue, as if unsure of how to treat her. He too had been on the stairs last night, and knew his sister well enough to know that something was very very wrong with her. Instead of waiting for him to make the first move though, Rogue smiled at him in a mischievous way, and went straight down to business.  
  
'I've been thinking about the Scott thing, and I think we need to sort it out for him.' She stated, not leaving him any room for argument. 'And I decided that all it needs is for him to explain things to Lydia properly.'  
  
Kurt looked at her in confusion. 'But Scott can't do that, he's the worst liar since, well ever. And you know how he is around women, I've seen socially challenged hedgehogs function better in conversation.'  
  
'I know, that's why Scott won't be the one doing the talking.' Rogue said, and Kurt's face went even blanker. Things were answered pretty soon, when Rogue backed into the classroom, touched a finger to her necklace, closed her eyes and transformed into Cyclops. She then spoke quietly and outlined to him her plan. Kurt nodded, the smile spreading firmly back onto his face.  
  
'Just find Scott, and take him over to the other side of the school. Give me about fifteen minutes tops, and then you can let him go.  
  
Kurt nodded his head, saying nothing about how disturbing it was seeing his younger sister looking like his roommate. Together, with glances all around, they filed out into the hallway on a mission of a very unusual nature.  
  
  
  
Fred and Todd didn't quite no what to think about the incidents of the previous night. Whilst concerned for their friend's well being, they wanted to stay as far out of the business that was threatening to consume all their closest friends as possible. They went about things as normal, not even attempting to analyse what was going on. It was when they were sitting on a sturdy wall and laughing at someone falling over the stairs that they realised, like many of the other mutants that day that they were being closely watched, or at least Todd was.  
  
Jamie was standing there, staring at him, about five yards away. When he noticed them watching he reddened and shuffled his feet, before seeming to come to a decision and approaching them like they were rampant tigers or something. Todd for his part watched the approaching boy as if he had never seen something like him before, so rapt was Jamie's stare.  
  
When he was close enough to talk to them, Fred spoke. 'What do you want kid?' he asked, though in a slightly less menacing fashion than he had done previously. Slightly.  
  
Jamie rubbed his sweaty palms together, his blush spreading across his already beet red face. His shoes scuffed quietly on the floor. When he finally raised his head, he looked straight to Todd.  
  
'I uh, I um I guess I wanted to say thank you to you, you know, for um saving my life and everything.' He looked down as though he had mortally offended the older boy.  
  
'When?' Todd asked, looking a little perplexed. Fred nudged him hard on the shoulder and muttered something that to Jamie sounded like 'insensitive dolt.'  
  
Jamie launched into explanation. 'When the mansion was, um, well destroyed, and that guy was after me, and you pulled me out the way, and your tongue got, well, all.' He trailed off in horror, as Todd's hands went unconsciously to his mouth. They'd done all they could to help him, but there was still an enormous red whelt across his tongue, leaving behind it a scar that would in all likelihood be permanent. This time Fred patted his friend's shoulder in sympathy, knowing that Todd had always felt his tongue to be his greatest asset.  
  
Todd looked at the young boy resentfully, and muttered back 'you're welcome.' Jamie's face seemed to brighten a little at the words.  
  
It was a few moments before both boys realised that Jamie had still not moved, and was still watching Todd with an almost worshipping gaze. Todd looked down at him uncomfortably.  
  
'What do you want?' he asked him, and Jamie seemed to shrink back into himself again.  
  
'I um, I was wondering if I could sit with you?' He asked them, the question in his voice obvious. Todd's jaw dropped in an unflattering manner, but Fred shook his head slightly and laughed.  
  
'Of course, climb up and have a seat!' He said loudly, and Jamie's expression became instantly eager. He scrambled to pull himself up onto the wall, and sat beside the two bigger boys wearing a smile of pride on his face like a badge. Todd looked at him like he was an alien species.  
  
'So how are you finding the school?' Fred asked conversationally, being that Todd was still staring rudely at the younger boy to whom he'd hardly ever spoken.  
  
Jamie shrugged nervously, 'I dunno, I suppose it's okay, but I don't really know my way around it yet.'  
  
Todd sprung into action then, puffing out his chest and saying like an old timer, 'Well we'll show you! We know all that goes on round here!'  
  
Jamie nodded his head keenly, looking as though nothing in the world could make him happier. Fred looked back and forth between the two of them, and laughed louder than he had done in a long time.  
  
  
  
Bobby was crossing the other end of the courtyard, Amara walking beside him. Both of them were well aware that there was a small group of girls following close behind them, and if they hadn't known by now, the constant whispers and occasional giggles certainly gave it away.  
  
Amara gave him a nudge, and raised her eyebrows several times. Bobby gave her a scathing glance, and wanted desperately to put his fingers over his reddening ears. Amara saw his hands twitching a little bit, and laughed out loud, throwing her head back to see the girls giving her jealous glances. Two of them she recognised from their class; that girl Susan and her friend. Looking at them gave Amara a quick idea.  
  
Turning so they were in direct line of the small pursuing group, Amara slapped a surprised Bobby on the shoulder teasingly, and the leaned in to kiss him soundly on the lips. The girls all threw up their hands in disgust before departing, having forgotten already Amara's grief stricken condition. Just as Bobby was getting over his surprise and getting into the kiss, Amara pulled away, her eyes gleaming in triumph. She turned the poor boys head to look at the spot that had just been vacated, and watched with a giggle as understanding dawned on his face. 'You can thank me later' she said, 'When you get your speech back that is.'  
  
Before Bobby could make even an understandable retort, Amara's face creased into a confused frown. 'Is that Jamie sitting over there with Fred and Todd?'  
  
  
  
Lydia was walking quickly, hugging her books to her chest. Ever since her argument with Scott, she had not even deigned to glance at him, and reluctant as she was to admit it, that had certainly been a challenge. Now, as she increased her pace towards her class, she was even more unwilling to admit that she was going this fast to catch sight of a certain someone heading to his own lesson, both to see them and let them know she was still mad at them.  
  
Rogue of course picked all this up, following behind her, and knowing the reason for Lydia's speed she couldn't help but feel that this would be easier than she thought it was going to be. Just as she turned a corner, she felt her heart stop in her chest, as she saw Scott coming out of the bathroom and looking in Lydia's direction. Hissing to Kurt and pointing wildly, Rogue flung herself into the nearest room. Kurt fortunately took the hint, and practically sprinted up to Scott before gripping onto his friend's arms and dragging him back in the opposite direction.  
  
'Scott man, I need to talk to you about something!' He said, fighting to move his friend down the hall.  
  
Scott threw his head back over his shoulder to where Lydia had continued walking unawares. 'Can't it wait, I have to sort out.'  
  
Kurt shook his head firmly. 'Can't. It's about, uh..' He stared at the door that had just been closed and was struck with a sudden flash of inspiration. 'It's about Rogue!' he said enthusiastically.  
  
Scott then threw one last longing glance over his shoulder, before sighing and following Kurt round the corner.  
  
The scene was silent for a few moments before the door slowly opened and what appeared to be Scott came out and went after Lydia.  
  
  
  
Kurt stopped the two of them when they were what he deemed to be a safe distance away. Scott faced him with his arms folded, and now he was confronted with the possibility of thinking very quickly indeed.  
  
Scott raised his eyebrows. 'So what was it about Rogue you wanted to talk about?' he prompted.  
  
Kurt scratched his forehead. Rogue had given him an overall goal for the conversation; he just didn't know how to reach it. He shrugged his shoulders helplessly. 'I just wondered, um, if you had any thoughts as to what was going on with her?'  
  
Scott stared at him strangely. 'You know I don't, nobody does. Lance and Pietro have both tried, she doesn't want to talk.'  
  
This gave Kurt another idea. 'I know that, I was just thinking that maybe we should try to get her to open up, I mean, I'm her brother, you know, you're one of her closest friends. Maybe she needs someone different to open up to.'  
  
Kurt would have sighed with relief when he saw Scott taking his ramblings seriously. 'What do you propose we do?' he asked, with some concern. Kurt gave a silent whoop of triumph as he saw daylight at the end of the tunnel.  
  
'We should take her out somewhere, for dinner or something. How about tonight?'  
  
Again Scott looked doubtful. He had hope to spend all this evening calling Lydia in the vain hope that she might talk to him again.  
  
Kurt saw him wavering. 'Come on Scott!' he said in a self-righteous voice. 'Rogue needs us.'  
  
He hoped he hadn't gone a little overboard with that remark, but Scott seemed to accept it. He nodded tersely.  
  
'All right, we'll ask her after school, if she even says yes that is. After last night, I wouldn't say she was in the most friendly mood at the moment.'  
  
Kurt smiled and clapped him on the back. Before panicking slightly. He hoped he'd given Rogue enough time to sort her part out.  
  
  
  
Coming up behind Lydia, a line of conversation formed quickly in Rogue's mind. Being a girl, she knew what a girl wanted to hear when a guy she liked screwed something up. And she was fairly confident that were Scott in her position now, he'd probably screw things up even more.  
  
Now, she stopped a few feet away from Lydia, and heard Scott's voice calling out her name fairly quietly. Lydia turned immediately, and the quick flash of delight in her eyes at seeing Scott betrayed her real feelings.  
  
Lydia looked at Scott with what she hoped was a scornful expression. She wasn't sure if she could take more lies and begging. 'What do you want Scott?'  
  
She couldn't stop her heart going out to him as she looked at the pathetic expression on his face. 'Could I please talk to you for a moment?' he asked with a hopeful look in his eyes that Lydia found impossible to refuse. She nodded slowly, and followed Scott a little way from her classmates, who were watching the two of them curiously.  
  
When they were out of earshot, Scott looked at her desperately. 'Look Lydia, I'm sorry about Saturday, and I understand if you never want to go out with me again, but I just thought I'd tell you the truth about what happened.'  
  
Lydia eyed him archly, but there was an air of interest now about her. 'Go on.' She said, though with eagerness now underlying her coldness.  
  
'I was a complete jerk for not telling you before, but I was just so humiliated about it, I thought you'd laugh at me.' There was a little sympathy in her face now. 'I guess you know that a while back me and the other guys went out and had a little too much to drink, and on Saturday morning we were finally punished for it. The people who run the um, the orphanage told us we were grounded for the day. No phone, no TV, no going out to see you.'  
  
Lydia looked at him for a moment, feeling a bit afraid that this was another lie. But she could see a genuine look in his eyes. 'Why didn't you tell me?' she asked, the ice having thawed completely from her voice.  
  
'Because it sounds so lame! Missing a date because I was grounded, at my age! I was humiliated enough about it without being laughed at by the one girl I really like.' He looked at her with a hopeless, lost sort of face, and Lydia felt her heart melting too.  
  
'Oh Scott, I just wanted you to be honest with me!' she said earnestly.  
  
'I know, and I'm so sorry. Can we please just forget this, and give it another chance?' he asked, though it was far more of a plea than a question. Lydia smiled a little, and nodded coyly, and a grin spread over Scott's face like a sunrise.  
  
'Great, thank you so much! Is tonight okay? Dinner?' he asked keenly. Lydia gave a nod of assent.  
  
'Excellent, I'll meet you at, um, you know that French restaurant? At half seven?' Two more nods, and Scott's shoulders seemed to sag in glad relief. He gave her a sweet smile, and head off back down the hall with a dreamy look on his face. It was only then Lydia realised she was all alone in the hall, and the bell had rung a few minutes ago. Blushing profusely, she ran into her class. Had she instead turned the corner, she would have seen 'Scott' undergo a rather surprising change, and Rogue walk away with a smile that was far more sneaky than dreamy.  
  
  
  
Kitty thought her head was going to explode, it would at least give her something to do. She was bored out of her mind, listening to Lorna's shrill voice talk all day. She had to confess that looking at the male company her friends' kept gave her a slightly more pleasing thing to do (though she felt guilty in admitting it), but even that had lost its charm. Most the jocks were as brainless as they were buff, and even Kitty could only take their society for a certain period of time.  
  
When the final bell rang, she could have danced in jubilation. Walking out the school doors with the group she threw herself into party planning with abandon, knowing that this would be one of the last times she'd have to put up with them all. After what she'd got planned for this evening, she didn't think she'd be Lorna's favourite person for a long long time.  
  
Joey, one of the only people there who she could stand to talk to, smiled at her as he departed, and said he was looking forward to the party tonight. The girls all giggled and nudged Kitty in a patronising manner. Kitty couldn't help but feel a little strange, a while ago she would have killed to be in this position, now she only felt how disloyal she was being to Lance.  
  
She departed the group and made her way towards the cars, unaware that Lance was still watching her as he walked out the school with Pietro.  
  
'I don't want her going to this party.' He said darkly, glowering at Joey's retreating back.  
  
Pietro rolled his eyes. 'I got that when you said it for the fiftieth time. Accept it, there's not a lot you can do to stop her.'  
  
Lance's frown deepened, and he kicked at the ground fruitlessly. Pietro slapped his back in commiseration. 'Look, if you feel that bad, then just go to the house tonight, and make sure nothing untoward happens.'  
  
Lance stopped in his tracks, as if struck by a bolt of inspiration. He turned to his friend. 'Come with me to do it then!' he said, before striding off to the cars. Pietro tried to catch up with him without using his powers.  
  
'Lance wait, I wasn't being serious.'  
  
  
  
Fred and Todd were last to the cars, Jamie in tow. Students around them made some comment to the little group's rather odd appearance. Jamie looked like he was having the time of his life.  
  
The rest would have made some remark, were they not caught up in their own business.  
  
Scott and Kurt were asking Rogue if she wanted to go out for dinner with them that night. Scott missed the look that flashed between brother and sister in his shock at Rogue's acceptance. She spoke to Pietro, asking him if he minded.  
  
After a quick nudge from Lance, Pietro shook his head and smiled. Tabby gave Kurt a quick sweeping glance, and knew immediately that he was up to no good. She took his arm and led him away to Mystique's car for a 'little chat', in which she determined to extract from him the details of his latest scheme.  
  
They got into the cars, Bobby blushing as he climbed into the seat next to Amara, amidst the curious glances of Sam and co. Jamie jumped into the seat next to Todd, who threw his hands up and accepted things, and the 'orphanage' group sped off, Lance already making Kitty promise to behave herself that evening.  
  
  
  
'Tabby, I've told you, you cannot come tonight, and it would ruin the whole plan!' Kurt exclaimed, as his wayward girlfriend threw a book at him.  
  
'You and I always plan things together!' she said furiously. 'Scott wouldn't even notice I was there!' Wham. Another book was thrown at him, Kurt bamfed out of the way to avoid it. When Tabby threw a temper tantrum, she didn't do it by halves. Kurt could sort of see where she was coming from; for a long time now whenever they'd down something untoward, it had usually been together. But this was something he was doing with his sister, who he still didn't know as well as he'd like. Tabby had to understand.  
  
The bookcase was now empty. Tabby sat down with a thud and looked away, her lower lip stuck out. Kurt made sure things were safe before he moved in and perched himself down next to her.  
  
'Tabby honey.' He said, 'I love you very much, but I want to do this thing with Rogue tonight, so you're going to have to occupy yourself. I'm very sorry if that hurts you, but I want to spend a little more time with my sister.  
  
She looked up at him with stormy eyes, but her lip stuck out a lot less. 'Well, I suppose, but I always thought it was me and you who did this sort of thing.'  
  
'It still is.' He insisted, 'but we also do other things too. Remember you and Rogue and Kitty?'  
  
Tabby couldn't help but smile softly at the memory. 'But you were our target, we couldn't really include you then!'  
  
'I know, and it was pretty magnificent.' The flattery was not lost on her, and Tabby cheered up a little more.  
  
She thought about it for a minute, knowing she was being unreasonable. Kurt had every right to go out without her, but still, she hated the fact he was out pulling pranks, their special pastime, without her being there, so she still reserved the right to be mad at him. She felt her anger fade a little however, when she looked at how well his shirt fitted her, and she was reminded of all the reasons why she'd found him so cute in the first place.  
  
'Well all right then, as it's with your sister. But don't make a habit of pulling pranks without me. And don't be too surprised if you get back tonight and your underwear is gone.'  
  
He laughed and kissed her on the nose. 'I'll know just where to look if it is.'  
  
  
  
'And you're absolutely certain you have to go to this thing tonight?' Lance asked for the third time that evening. Kitty sighed and continued packing her bag.  
  
'That's the idea I was trying to put across when I said, "yes I have to go" Lance.' She stopped packing for her moment and put her hands on his shoulders. 'What's the matter, don't you trust me?'  
  
'It's not you I don't trust.' He muttered, as Kitty laughed to herself and resumed packing. She finished and slung her back over her shoulder, before giving him a peck on the cheek and leaving the room. Lance followed close behind her.  
  
'Do you want me to drop you off or something? I'd be happy to take you.'  
  
'Logan offered me a lift, I've already said yes'  
  
'I'm sure he wouldn't mind if..'  
  
She silenced him with a finger to his lips. 'I'm not going to get trashed or make out with any football players. I love you. Trust me.'  
  
She called to Logan and disappeared out of the door without a backwards glance. Lance looked after her with a worried frown for a few moments, before going off to find Pietro.  
  
  
  
In the room that he and Kurt shared, Scott looked in the mirror and checked his shirt. For reasons unbeknownst to him, Kurt had decided that they would be going with Rogue to the French restaurant in town that evening, which meant that some effort had to be made in the dressing up department.  
  
Despite knowing that he was helping his friend, Scott felt utterly miserable. Lydia refused point blank to speak to him, and he had failed to fit in to the new school really, nor the group he was with. He hated the fact that he was still an outsider, and had no real idea of how to change that. It didn't help that everyone in the house had grouped off except him, forming their own little circles that he couldn't infiltrate even if he'd wanted to.  
  
Lydia helped him feel a part of the new place, and now his friends had ruined even that. He cared about them, and he had no real desire to go it alone, but he was miserable, and had been for some time.  
  
Scott heard Kurt calling to him from downstairs. He gave one last glance in the mirror at his unhappy face, and plastered a smile onto it before heading down to join his friends.  
  
  
  
Pietro was sitting on a bed and watching Rogue as she put the finishing touches to her makeup on. She turned round to face him, a question on her face, and Pietro gave the thumbs up of approval. Rogue smiled and came closer to him, and leant in so that her breath tickled his ear softly.  
  
'You sure you don't mind staying home alone?' she asked.  
  
Pietro sighed and shook his head ruefully. 'It's ok, Lance has sort of, um, made plans for us. I should probably be gone as you.'  
  
Rogue laughed a little, and kissed his temple. 'Pietro, if you don't want Kitty to know you're going to spy on her, try and make it just a little less obvious.'  
  
Her boyfriend looked indignant. 'It's Lance's fault! I had nothing to do with it.'  
  
Rogue smirked. 'Innocent as usual?' she said laughingly. 'Just don't go perving on cheerleaders, and I'll let the matter go.'  
  
Pietro smiled now too. 'You know, that thought hadn't occurred to me before, but now you suggest it..' he was saved finishing his sentence when Rogue made a pillow fly at him.  
  
She grinned and then went out the door. Pietro was going to follow, but was stopped by Lance who informed him that they'd better get going soon, before Kitty had time to speak to anyone undesirable at the party.  
  
  
  
Rogue met the other two at the door. Tabby was watching them with a little frown at the doorframe, and Rogue went over to talk to her.  
  
'We'll have him back soon, don't worry.' She teased lightly. Tabby made a face.  
  
'I just wanted to be in on it, that's all,' she said, the pout not entirely gone from her face.  
  
'Well just pull a prank on him while he's gone.' Rogue suggested, betraying her brother with relative ease.  
  
'I've already warned him that his underwear might be found missing.'  
  
'Well then you'll just have to be a little more creative.'  
  
Tabby thought for a moment, before a grin broke out quickly over her face. Nodding and smiling at Rogue, she walked into the living room where the mutants staying at home were gathered. Rogue looked over her shoulder and saw Kurt looking worried. She laughed, but the sound had a hollow tone.  
  
She leant into the room to say goodbye to the others, who were currently arguing over what movie to watch. As Sam argued viciously for the cause of an action movie, Todd was suggesting (rather vocally) a horror flick.  
  
From the couch, Amara beckoned for Bobby to come and join her. He blushed and perched himself on the edge of the chair, while Amara leaned back to giggle with Jubilee.  
  
The discussion over movies was getting a little more heated when Evan walked into the room, looking subdued but less tired than he'd been since arriving at Bedford. In his hand he clutched a box, and waving it quietly to the others, they immediately gave in to his choice.  
  
Rogue watched them all settling down happily for a moment, before responding to the calls of Scott and Kurt and heading out the door.  
  
  
  
Next to Logan in the car, Kitty checked the mirror again. Logan looked across at her with a half amused, half disappointed expression.  
  
'They're still following us half pint?' he asked.  
  
'Very obviously so' she replied, rolling her eyes. She knew Lance would be following her to the party, she'd known even before he had. It was hopelessly sweet, which was why she hadn't killed him yet for not trusting her on her own.  
  
Logan shook his head slightly. 'Did Mystique teach them nothing about being subtle?' he asked, and Kitty laughed.  
  
'If she did, then they weren't paying attention!' Kitty laughed back. They pulled up to the address that Lorna had said, and Kitty motioned for him to stop the car. Kitty thanked him for the ride, and they both looked up the street to where the car that had been pursuing them had come to an abrupt halt. They saw a blur disappear into the bushes of someone's front lawn, followed by a shadowy figure that was very obviously Kitty's boyfriend. In the car Logan banged his head down on the steering wheel.  
  
Kitty gave a little laugh and a wave to him, and he drove off into the night, leaving her alone on the street. She took a deep breath, felt in her bag one more time to see that she had the things she needed, and then went to ring the doorbell on Lorna Bakers fairly large abode.  
  
The girls answered quickly, and with a good deal of squeals and insincere hugs Kitty was accepted into the house, where she could hear raucous laughter coming from what was probably the living room. As she looked out the door before it closed, she was aware of something speeding towards the house.  
  
A few hours later, she was almost having second thoughts about going through with her plan. If she hadn't known that these people were laughing at her behind her back then she would have thought they were terribly nice. They laughed and talked with her like she was their best friend, and Kitty had to admit the feeling wasn't entirely unpleasant. It was acceptance, but it was still false.  
  
One of the jocks cranked up the volume on the stereo, and someone else (who she suspected had had rather too much to drink) shouted out over the blare that they should have some dancing. Most of those who could stand properly took up the suggestion with enthusiasm, and Joey caught her eye across the room. Knowing full well that Lance was watching out the window Kitty smiled and shook her head, before asking Lorna where the bathroom was. Lorna pointed in the vague direction of upstairs, and Kitty smiled knowing this would make her plan all the easier. She decided on her way up the stairs that she'd be giving Lance reason to burst in and rescue her soon. It was the best way to leave the party, and she felt a little sorry for the two boys, getting all-cold like that.  
  
She picked out Lorna's room easily, because she'd put her stuff in there earlier and was still sober enough to remember it, and she quickly fetched from her bag what it was she needed. She walked quietly to Lorna's cluttered desk, and making sure the door was shut put her hand through the wood of the drawer.  
  
She felt her way through the interior, and her search came up with nothing. Kitty pulled out what was in there, and found her hand resting on an expensive looking blue journal.  
  
She hesitated for a moment, knowing that to look in the book would be one of the harshest things she could do. Then she remembered how Lorna had laughed at her behind her back, and how she'd been so mean to Rogue, and she flipped quickly through the pages to find the relative information. She tore the pages she wanted out quickly, and then replaced the book in its drawer.  
  
She went to the bathroom next door quickly and locked the door. Turning on the sink, she put her hand into the cabinet, and had to stop herself from jumping up and down with delight when she saw the can she'd been looking for in her hand.  
  
Pulling off the nozzle, Kitty set to work. She changed around the contents of the tube easily, and replaced the can on the shelf, moving her hand blindly but carefully around inside the cabinet.  
  
She heard footsteps on the stairway, and moving quickly she turned off the sink and opened the door.  
  
Lorna was standing out in the hallway, looking at her with a slight frown. 'You found it okay?' she asked, fixing her with an odd sort of look.  
  
Kitty nodded a little nervously. 'Sure, wasn't hard to find.' She moved her hand behind her back as she spoke, and fortunately Lorna was a bit too trashed to notice. She threw her things into her bag and followed Lorna who was already staggering back down the stairs. Coming again into the living room, she noticed how Joey looked up when she came in, and how two faces ducked down by the window. Kitty decided it was time to set events in motion that would enable her to leave the party.  
  
  
  
'Come on, the noise is coming from over here.' Lance beckoned furiously to Pietro from behind a bush. He sped up to him as Lance snuck out and came crouching down below a window ledge.  
  
After checking that they had not been seen, Lance stuck his head up so he could see through the window. He picked out his girlfriend amongst the throng, and then let his eyes wander over the rest of the scene.  
  
He crouched back down looking at his friend as though all his worst fears had been confirmed. 'It's as I thought, there's football players there, and they're all drinking.'  
  
Pietro threw up his hands. 'Horror of horrors. It's as you thought, can we go now? I'm cold and crouching on the ground is ruining my outfit.'  
  
Lance smacked him on the shoulder. 'We're not going anywhere until we make sure she is not going to get pawed by any jocks.'  
  
'Rogue's out on her own, I'm not worried.'  
  
'Rogue's out with her brother and a friend she's trying to set up. Kitty is sitting in a house of sin with a pack load of guys just waiting to take advantage of her.'  
  
Pietro cocked his eyebrow. 'House of sin?'  
  
Lance glared. 'It's a phrase! And it's true!'  
  
Pietro felt it would be wisest to change the subject. 'You spoken to Rogue yet?'  
  
'No, I've too much on my plate with my own girlfriend to worry about yours.'  
  
'She's your friend too you know. Almost like your little sister.'  
  
Lance looked at him with anger blazing in his eyes. 'What's the point? She'll only lie, or push me away again. She doesn't want our help'  
  
Pietro watched him closely. 'That doesn't mean she doesn't need it.'  
  
'Does she deserve it?'  
  
It was Pietro's turn to hit him. 'Of course she does!' he hissed. 'Don't even think that. She's the kindest, bravest and best person any of us know!'  
  
Lance's shoulders seemed to sag. 'Sorry. I know. But she's not herself anymore.'  
  
'Well we have to help her get back to herself then.'  
  
There was a tone in his voice that made Lance pay attention. 'She talked to you?' he asked.  
  
'She's beginning to open up to me, yes.'  
  
'Good for you. Help her for all of us will you?' Lance asked. Pietro laid a hand on his shoulder.  
  
'You have to stick by her. We can't let her shake us off.'  
  
Lance chewed his lip for a moment, and then let his head sink in a nod. Pietro clapped his hand on his back, and settled down with far less complaint to do some Kitty watching with his best friend.  
  
Things were pretty quiet for a while. Somebody put some music on, and Lance scowled in anger as some guy asked Kitty to dance.  
  
Kitty shook her head and disappeared upstairs, leaving a disappointed young man in her wake. 'Too right she wouldn't dance with you scum.' Lance muttered under his breath.  
  
To his utter shock she came back down a few minutes later, and floated straight into the arms of the meathead. Lance looked at Pietro in angry astonishment, and Pietro, being in slightly saner mind, realised just what Kitty was doing. They must be the worst spies in the world.  
  
As Kitty slipped her arms round the guy's neck, and Pietro tried to stop Lance, his friend stood up quickly and banged his fist on the window. The party goers stopped mid party and gaped at the angry Avalanche standing in the frame. The football player dropped Kitty instantly, and one of the girls reluctantly opened the window, fearful that otherwise Lance would shatter it.  
  
He climbed through heavily, and stood facing the poor bloke, breathing hard. Kitty snorted and moved in between them, her bag already in hand.  
  
'Calm down Lance.' She said, putting a hand on his shoulder. Pietro climbed in after his friend looking at the crowd with a slightly abashed face.  
  
Lance began to sputter, meaning he was pretty worked up, and between them Kitty and Pietro managed to get him out of the door before he started throwing things at the assembled people. She said goodbye to the girls over her shoulder, giggling slightly as she imagined their bewilderment at her exit.  
  
Out in the street, they let Lance go, and he stood glaring at them both, Kitty in particular.  
  
'What the hell were you doing with that jerk?' he asked loudly. Kitty folded her arms and glared back.  
  
'What were you doing following me?' she asked back. When he opened his mouth, she cut him off. 'Yes, I know you followed me here tonight, and that you've been watching at the window all evening. Honestly, you couldn't have been more obvious if you'd tried.'  
  
The wind was all knocked out of Lance, as he stared at his muddy shoes. 'You still shouldn't have been flirting with that jock.' He said quietly.  
  
'You deserved it. You had absolutely no faith in me, and if you hadn't been there, I wouldn't have gone near Joey.'  
  
'Oh Joey is it?'  
  
'Don't you sneer at me Lance Alvers! It's bad enough you feel you have to follow me, but to drag your friend along too!' Pietro looked away quickly, using his innocent face.  
  
Lance now looked contrite, like a scolded child. 'I'm sorry Kitty. I was just worried those creeps were going to take advantage of you.'  
  
Her face softened slightly. 'I know, but it wouldn't hurt for you to trust me a little more. I love you, that should mean something.'  
  
He put his arms round her. 'I'm so sorry. I love you too.' They kissed so intensely Pietro turned away properly.  
  
Lance slung his arm round her shoulder. 'Let's go home.'  
  
Pietro didn't fancy sharing that car, and decided to run for it.  
  
  
  
'Scott man, can you do me a favour and go get the table for us. There's something I want to talk to Rogue about, don't worry, the table's booked in your name.'  
  
Scott found Kurt's request a little odd to say the least. The whole reason they were here tonight was to talk to Rogue together. Still, he shrugged and nodded, and went ahead into the restaurant, missing completely the smiles that brother and sister gave each other.  
  
The interior of the building was dimly lit and elegant, not at all the sort of place you went with a group of friends. He sighed, and thought it was just the sort of place he would have taken Lydia, had he got the chance to go out on a date with her.  
  
Scott blinked suddenly. Lydia was now standing smiling in front of him. He rubbed his eyes a little to check that she was actually there, and looking pleased to see him. She came forward quickly.  
  
'Wow, you're here, and you're actually early! Oh Scott I'm so glad we agreed to give this another go. You have no idea how much I'd been looking forward to the last one!'  
  
Scott was a little speechless, particularly when Lydia threw her arms around him. It was fortunate that she did, because it gave him an opportunity to see Kurt and Rogue grinning at him from the restaurant entrance.  
  
Lydia pulled back and looked at him, smiling. 'You did mean all those things you said, didn't you?' she asked.  
  
Scott looked over at his friend's quickly in disbelief. 'Um, yeah. Yeah sure I did.' he stumbled out, seeing their nodding heads.  
  
Lydia slipped her arm round his waist as the waiter approached them.  
  
'I, I think we're under the name Summers.' Scott said uncertainly. The man looked down at his list quickly, then back up with a smile. 'Of course. Table for two right this way.'  
  
Rogue touched his forehead, and informed Scott without having to speak that someone would be coming to pick him up in a few hours.  
  
Shaking his head and not bothering to hide his smile, Scott mouthed a discrete thank you to his friends as they were led away.  
  
  
  
Kurt and Rogue burst out the door of the restaurant laughing.  
  
'Did you see his face?' Kurt laughed.  
  
Rogue nodded enthusiastically. 'Completely priceless. Can't believe she didn't notice anything.'  
  
They walked down the street together, thought about getting pizza together, and decided instead to go back to the mansion and see what Tabby had done in their absence.  
  
They climbed into the car, Kurt at the wheel, and still laughing they drove off down the street.  
  
Rogue leaned out of the window and let her hair fly wild in the wind.  
  
Kurt watched her before he said anything. 'You are all right aren't you?' he asked hesitantly, as though not sure it was his place.  
  
Rogue eyed him evenly. 'I'm as well as can be expected.'  
  
'Considering what?'  
  
'Considering I have several things on my mind.' she said shortly. 'But it really means something to know you care.' she added far softer. Kurt gave a little smile.  
  
After a few moments silence, Rogue spoke again. 'There is something that has been bothering me though.'  
  
Kurt asked what so eagerly he almost drove off road.  
  
Rogue looked hard into the night. 'I want to know who my father is.' she said.  
  
Kurt nodded. 'I've spent a while wondering that myself. Do you think Mys..mom would tell us?'  
  
'If she doesn't we'll have to find out another way.' Rogue said.  
  
'She'd probably prefer it if we gave her time, wait until she'd ready.'  
  
'No.' Rogue said, responding so quickly it was strange. 'I want to know. We have a right to know.'  
  
'You're right I guess.' Kurt said seriously, before lightening the tone again. 'I'm sure if we can put a friend's relationship back together, we can find out a little thing like this with no problem! Sisters are doing it for themselves, or brother and sisters, or brother and, oh you know what I mean!'  
  
Rogue let out a genuine laugh. 'You're weird.' she said.  
  
'And you're strange.' he deadpanned. She smacked him lightly on the shoulder, and they drove through the house gates.  
  
The car came to a sudden stop, as they took in the sight in front of them. Tabby was sitting perched on the roof of the house, grinning broadly in the night, and from the highest point, flapping proudly in the breeze, was a long string of the Nightcrawler's lovely patterned boxers, on display for all the world to see.  
  
DISCLAIMER: All characters are property of Marvel and WB  
  
AUTHORS NOTE: That was about as quick as I could do it everyone! Damn work. Still, things are moving along now. Next chapter we'll find out just what it was Kitty did, we'll catch up with Apocalypse and we'll find out more about those weird men I mentioned a while ago. Till next chapter, please read and review!! 


	11. A little bit of revenge, and the buildin...

Chapter 11  
  
It was somewhat of an understatement to say that there had been an interest in the attack on Bayville. Media circus was a more accurate way to describe it. It had been a great many years since a town had been so wholly demolished, beyond repair. Even now, many days after the memorial service had been held for the victims of the violence, reporters were still encamped in and around the area, getting interviews with whoever would give them, trying to shed some light on the attackers.  
  
The fact that some of the people involved in the attack had huge knives grafted to their arms or could melt metal with a touch did not escape those who witnessed the scene that Sunday. As a result of this, mutants had not really come out of the incident very well. Mutants were a shaky subject amongst the general public already, and so once their 'full destructive potential' (as leading politicians deemed it) had been demonstrated, fear and outrage became focused wholly on the mutant species. Common opinion was that the mutant attackers were violent human haters, bent on wiping out humanity as a whole.  
  
The scary part was that they were actually quite accurate in saying this.  
  
Apocalypse was not troubled by this abundance of bad press. In truth he was profiting from it. Every day brought new followers trudging into his camp, having sought them out to join him in his quest. Apparently the news reports had served not only to insight public fear and hatred of mutants, but also acted as an advert for those mutants who hated humans.  
  
So it was that Apocalypse began to rebuild the army that had been sufficiently damaged after the Bayville attack. But he had learnt things in the wake of that Sunday. For one thing, he had learnt that destruction or humans on their own really was as easy as it had been so many years ago. The silly mortals were just as helpless, just as useless in defence as they always had been. But the other mutants, those who would deign to oppose him; they had grown in strength.  
  
It wasn't just lucky chance that enabled them to beat his forces. His men were trained in acts of violence, skilled in the art of hatred. But this made them disloyal, bandied about mistrust between them. When they took on a fight, they wanted to do it alone, and this decreased the likelihood of success in combat. To remedy this, Apocalypse had installed a new aspect to his teachings. The emphasis was not put upon working as a unit to destroy humanity, like a crusade. He encouraged companionship between the men somewhat, and organised them into teams. He gave each group small tasks of destruction, sending them to nearby houses and towns. Smaller attacks became commonplace but escaped major news because of the remoteness of the targets.  
  
This was all Apocalypse could accomplish for the time being. He could not yet risk another grand scale encounter with the real opposition. That was his final lesson. He had learnt not to underestimate the little girl who had inherited the power. She was young, and inexperienced, and could be beaten, but Apocalypse would have to put his all into the fight, and to do that he needed an army behind him upon whom he could depend to win a battle.  
  
So the training continued, and the army got stronger, and Apocalypse carried on waiting.  
  
  
  
  
  
Mystique was awake at night again. Everyone was back in the house, which was surprising because Kitty was supposed to be out for the night and she had the sneaking suspicion that Pietro and Lance had intended to stake out the house she was staying in.  
  
These had been confirmed when the three of them walked through the door, the two boys looking to Logan sheepishly. The older man shook his head, before walking away.  
  
Mystique had smiled at them. 'So..' she asked, drawling as she had done when it was just her and the brotherhood, 'did 007 and 008 fail in their mission?'  
  
They looked mortified. Some of the others who were still up heard from the kitchen and started laughing. Lance looked crestfallen. 'Were we really that obvious?'  
  
Mystique nodded solemnly, 'we knew your plans even before you did.'  
  
Kitty giggled and touched Lance on the arm, moving out the room, He followed behind with Pietro, the two of them starting up an argument as to who would be 007 and who would be 008.  
  
Rogue, Kurt and Scott came back fairly soon after, looking as though they'd had much more success in their plans than their friends. Rogue gave her mother a quick glance before she disappeared up the stairs; Kurt and Scott remained awkwardly behind.  
  
They stood for a few moments in silence, before Scott had been unable to keep up the sober expression and ran out the room to a place where he could bask in his own happiness.  
  
Alone, Kurt looked at his toes, before glancing at the spot Rogue had hastily vacated. 'She's all right you know,' he mumbled, 'better than she was.'  
  
Mystique nodded slowly, for want of anything else to do.  
  
'She just um, needs time you know.' he bumbled on bravely, 'we're still pretty new as a family.'  
  
'Just keep taking care of her,' Mystique said slowly, before adding 'son'.  
  
Kurt looked a bit bemused, as though the words were somewhat alien to him, before he fell back into goofy mode and saluted her strictly, before bounding away to berate a Tabby who had been rather creative in her pranking.  
  
'Night mom' he called on his way out the room.  
  
So it was that Mystique was now half smiling, half frowning. It felt like she could never be close to both her children at the same time. The moment she was getting on with one, the other seemed to drift out of reach.  
  
She decided once again that caffine was the answer to her sleepless nights, and as she padded softly down the steps she reminded herself to stock up on more coffee when she went to the store the next day.  
  
Marvelling at how domesticated she had become since taking on the care of so many teens, Mystique settled herself down on one of the kitchen chairs and breathed in the aroma of her drink.  
  
Of course it was tradition that her nighttime wanderings should be interrupted, but this time the intrusion was more desired than previous ones had been.  
  
Rogue looked genuinely surprised to see her mother seated at the kitchen table. She made a hesitant gesture towards the thin that was thinning in content.  
  
'Couldn't sleep, just came down for a snack.' She said quietly. She pulled the door open as quickly as possible, and was well on her way out the door before she spoke again. She seemed to make a decision, and put the food on the table so loudly that it made Mystique jump slightly.  
  
'Actually I didn't come down here for food, I came down here because I knew you were downstairs. I just wanted to say sorry, you know, for what I said to you earlier.'  
  
Mystique looked deep into her mug. 'Apology accepted.'  
  
Rogue looked slightly taken aback, as if she'd been waiting for something more. 'Um, all right then, I'll just go back to bed, see you in the morning and everything.'  
  
Mystique nodded, and Rogue turned around again. She'd made it two steps before she burst into tears. Her mother was at her side in a second.  
  
'Shhh' she said soothingly, 'it's all right, don't cry, it's all right.'  
  
Rogue broke away from her and banged her head violently on the fridge door, her face darkening into a sorrowful scowl.  
  
'I can't keep doing this!' She shouted hoarsely, as though she'd played this scene a hundred times before. 'I can't keep crying! I can't keep making people sorry for me! Making me sorry me! It just makes everything so much harder!' she screamed the last part, before she stopped the violence and turned to face a stunned Mystique.  
  
She looked at her mothers face and her hands flew to her mouth as though she were a child that had just done something very bad.  
  
'And I'm so sorry mom. I'm sorry I said those things, and I hurt you, and I let you down.' her lip trembled. 'And I'm so sorry I'm not strong enough for you, I'm just so, so sorry.'  
  
Mystique closed the distance and threw her arms around her, overcoming her shock at such an outburst. Stroking her daughter's hair, and sheltering her from any harm there might be lurking in a kitchen at one in the morning; her own voice began to shake a little.  
  
'shhhh, shhh it's all right, there's nothing to be sorry for, everything's all right.' She murmured, not sure if she was getting it quite right, she seemed to be repeating herself a lot, and not a huge amount of what she was saying was really that useful.  
  
She pulled away a little so she could see Rogue's face. It was tormented. 'Never tell me you're not strong enough again, hear me? You are strong, you are so strong, and I am so, so proud of you.'  
  
Rogue had stopped crying, she was taking deep, shuddering breaths that rocked the cool silence of the room. She did calm down though, and stood quite like the calm after a storm.  
  
When she had decided that the crying was over for the night, Rogue broke the contact, sniffling slightly.  
  
'I'm sorry' she said, then laughed slightly, 'maybe that wasn't the right phrase.'  
  
Mystique laughed louder than she would have done normally, and sobered quickly. 'Promise me, if you ever feel like this again, you come straight to me, don't worry and keep everything bottled up.'  
  
Rogue carried on laughing, but there was no humour in it now. 'That'll be difficult, I feel like this every second of the day.'  
  
'Except when I'm with friends,' she added.  
  
Mystique looked at her as though she were a particularly difficult puzzle. 'What is going wrong Rogue? Tell me, we have all night.'  
  
Rogue laughed again, 'do you have all lifetime?'  
  
'If you need it, then yes.' Rogue laughed even harder.  
  
Mystique was getting nowhere this way, so she launched into the speech she'd had time to prepare whilst Rogue wasn't speaking to her.  
  
'I know that nothing has ever been easy on you. And now, after everything changed, since you got all these new powers, you've been given all these new responsibilities and roles, and I know this must be very hard. I'd imagine most the time it feels as though you have the world on your shoulders.'  
  
Rogue wasn't laughing anymore, but there was a sad little smile on her face as she listened unattentively.  
  
'But it isn't a wait you have to carry alone. Everyone around you wants to share the burden with you. Your family is here, your friends are here, Pietro's here, he's do anything for you. Let us share whatever it is that's happening to you, whether it's trouble with school or trouble with Apocalypse!'  
  
She finished there, because she had the sneaking suspicion that her words were falling on deaf ears.  
  
She was right. When Rogue stood, it was with the same small, ironic smile on her face she'd worn countless times before.  
  
'Sorry mom, but these are my powers, my gift,' she it as though the phrase was a bitter taste in her mouth. 'Quite impossible to share really. But it's nice to know I have friends, and family.' she finished as the expression on her face became far more genuine.  
  
She looked away a bit, and the visage twisted again, to that sly expression she felt showed her relation to Kurt.  
  
'All the family's missing is a father. Night mom,' she said, breezing quickly to the door and yanking it open. Logan came stumbling through, managing to preserve some shred of dignity by not falling completely over.  
  
Rogue raised her eyebrows at the pair of them before disappearing into darkness.  
  
Mystique too was looking at Logan with a quizzical stare. Logan had the grace to look slightly flustered.  
  
He looked behind him, taking a moment to settle back into character. 'What is it with the kid.' He asked gruffly and quickly, pointing vaguely behind him. 'One minute she's pushing you away, the next she lets the flood gates well and truly open.'  
  
Mystique was still looking amused, Logan looked down.  
  
He said 'I'll just be going' as she asked whether he'd like some coffee.  
  
He changed his mind awfully quickly. 'Erm, yeah that'd be good.'  
  
They could hear laughter coming from up above them.  
  
  
  
Looking at Rogue Monday morning, you would have had absolutely no idea of the scene that had occurred in the night. She laughed with the others, raised her eyebrows curiously at Kitty's over enthusiasm to get to school, pulled Lance aside to quietly apologise for everything, and smiled at Pietro as if everything had suddenly slotted back into place in her life. Only this time, under close watch, Mystique was able to see just what it was that had been troubling her about Rogue's behaviour, other than her lapses into tears and shouting.  
  
There was an air of going through the motions about her, something almost automatic in her words and gestures. Funny enough, Mystique felt that the only time Rogue was being herself was when she was crying or shouting.  
  
But she played along, and she let herself be fooled into thinking her daughter was happy again. The attitude certainly fit in with the other mutants that morning. Kitty seemed particularly pleased with herself, as though she knew something that the others did not. Pietro was happy simply because Rogue was happy, and Lance was grateful that Kitty hadn't slaughtered him for spying on her. Scott was still bouncing off the walls from his date with Lydia, Kurt and Tabby were conspiring and giggling in the corner, and Bobby and Amara were swapping nervous glances.  
  
This attitude stretched onward throughout the journey to school. By the time the cars pulled up at the gates they were all ready to pile out and were bizarrely eager to begin the new week.  
  
If only had continued till the end of the day.  
  
  
  
The moment Kitty darted out the car and ran into the building, shooting furtive glances all around her, everybody knew something was very definitely amiss. They all caught up with her around fifteen minutes later, when they saw her putting a stack of paper in tray that was normally used for storing the school newspaper. She left the scene quickly, and watched, giggling from afar as people began to pick up the pages, and gasp at their contents.  
  
The others moved in curiously, and Lance wrapped his arms around his girlfriend with a quizzical face. She giggled and handed him her own copy of the pages. Lance looked down and his eyebrows shot over the top of his forehead.  
  
Extracts from the diary of Lorna Baker  
  
New students arrived today. Most the guys are pretty hot, but they've all got these girlfriends, who're either freaks of trailer trash. One of them was really getting to me, so we 'made friends' with her dweeby best friend Pryde to piss her off. This is going to be fun!  
  
Can't believe Cheryl's new hair, if it were any more wild she'd have birds nesting in it. Friend she may be, but when will that girl get a clue?  
  
And so it continued. Lance felt his jaw drop and Rogue looked up from her own copy to Kitty, her face a mixture of disbelief and admiration, echoed by all the other mutants.  
  
'How long have you known?' Rogue asked her.  
  
'A while' Kitty replied, 'I just thought it would be more fun for me to take revenge alone.'  
  
'You were certainly very exacting with it.' Pietro chipped in. Kitty laughed archly.  
  
'I haven't quite finished yet!' she declared.  
  
As if on cue, there came a screech from further down the hallway, followed by much laughter and the sudden appearance of a furious Lorna Baker. Trailing behind her somewhat reluctantly were her friends; as they too had read her diary extracts.  
  
She caught one look of Kitty and her face turned scarlet, which now clashed terribly with her hair. This was what Kitty had promised. Instead of the platinum blonde locks she usually wore, Lorna had something on top of her head that resembled a lawn cutting. Kitty had dyed her hair bright green.  
  
Those who had been waiting years to see Lorna shown up clapped and laughed with glee, and this only incensed Lorna further. She stalked up to Kitty with her finger pointed accusingly.  
  
'Pryde' she hissed, and the rest of the hall went silent immediately. 'What the hell have you done?'  
  
Kitty feigned innocence. 'Me?'  
  
This just made Lorna even angrier. 'Yes you, you dweeby bitch! My hair and my diary. How the hell did you do it?'  
  
Kitty gave up the act, and looked at her old 'friend' with a grim smirk on her face. 'That's what you get when you try to use me to get back at someone else Lorna. And whatever it is that made me a bitch, it's safe to say I learnt it all from you!'  
  
Lorna stood there breathing heavily for a bit, and then screamed. 'Out with it Pryde, how did you get ahold of these, things.' She still wasn't prepared to concede to the fact that her hair may be coloured falsely.  
  
'Does it really matter now Lorna.' Kitty said fluttering her eyelashes sweetly. She let her gaze flick upwards to the girl's disastrous hair, and giggled a little. 'Hasn't the damage been done?'  
  
That did it. Lorna ran forward, and shoved Kitty as hard as she could. Not prepared for the contact, Kitty was unable to steady herself, and went tumbling backwards.  
  
This was when things started to get really unfortunate. Kitty couldn't stop herself from hitting the wall so close behind her, and falling through it in front of half the school.  
  
Lorna wasn't the only one shrieking, and judging by Kitty's face as she climbed back through and straightened herself up, she had fully grasped the gravity of the situation she was now in.  
  
Lorna now had the advantage in the confrontation. She looked at Kitty triumphantly. 'You're one of those mutant freaks aren't you?' she screeched. Kitty looked down and couldn't speak. 'That's how you did this to me, isn't it?'  
  
Kitty was again lost for words, and was also losing support in the fight. People began to think to themselves, if she can do this to Lorna Baker, what could she do to me?  
  
The atmosphere in the room was not so usual now; it wasn't about a catfight between two teenage girls anymore. The thoughts of the crowd became voiced in harsh whispers, and people were joining Lorna in glaring at Kitty. For the first time since the whole thing began Kitty looked frightened.  
  
Lance chose that moment to step into the fray. He pushed his way through the crowd and placed a comforting arm round Kitty's shoulders. 'Yes, Kitty is a mutant. So am I.'  
  
As if to prove his point, he held out his hand and knocked Lorna to the floor. The crowd around them was getting nastier. The other mutants looked unsure of what to do. Lydia was looking at Scott's glasses curiously.  
  
Rogue waded in. 'I'm a mutant too.' She said. The others followed in; Scott threw a glance in despair at Lydia. 'We all are'.  
  
People around them began to shout, the jocks were getting ready to rush forward. Rogue leant in.  
  
'We need to get out of here as quickly as possible, doing as little damage as possible.'  
  
The others nodded. Kurt held onto as many people as he could, getting ready to port. Everybody else stood ready.  
  
The crowd closed in, and they moved into action. Kurt ported away instantly, and was back a few moments later to continue moving people out. Rogue held up her hands and concentrated, creating a barrier between them and the 'normal' students. Kurt continued porting people out of there, and Rogue, gritting her teeth in concentration, shouted out to Pietro. 'Make a whirlwind! Give us some cover.'  
  
He gave a very, very quick nod before carrying out her command. The wind around them grew larger, and the numbers of them left in the building grew smaller. Rogue pushed her way through the chaos and found Lorna. She looked at Rogue as though she were having the time of her life.  
  
'I always knew you were a freak!' she screeched, as though by this she had achieved some small victory.  
  
Rogue cocked her eyebrow, raised her eyes upward, and Lorna with them, and spun her round and round and round until her face colour now matched her hair. She dropped her in the garbage bin.  
  
'Likewise.' She told her, before putting a hand to her pendant and porting away. Pietro was gone a split second later, and Bedford High was empty of all mutants.  
  
From her position in the garbage, Lorna shrieked again.  
  
  
  
Back outside the gates, only a little while after they'd entered through them, the mutants gathered together to wander what the hell they were going to do next.  
  
Kitty was crying quietly, the weight of guilt heavy on her shoulders. When Rogue and Pietro arrived, she looked up.  
  
'I'm so sorry.' She said in a small voice.  
  
'They were going to find out at some point.' Rogue said reasonably. 'We can't blame you for others biggotry.' She faced everyone else.  
  
'It was really brave of you all to come forward in that hallway and confess to the world what you are. We have absolutely nothing to be ashamed of.'  
  
Scott sighed heavily. 'No we don't, it's just they don't see it that way.' He looked back to the school building where his date was probably trying to recover from the trauma of having gone out with, (and kissed) a mutant. He sighed again.  
  
'We should get back to the house. The town will probably be there to break down the door sometime soon.' Fred said matter of factly. Some weren't sure whether he was joking or not. Most thought not.  
  
They began to walk away slowly, Tabby pulled out a phone from her bag to call the mansion. Scott heard a voice behind him and turned.  
  
Lydia was running towards them, looking slightly out of breath. Scott motioned to the others to carry on without him, and stopped to wait for her.  
  
She took a few moments catching her breath, and then looked him in his glasses. 'You really are one of them aren't you?'  
  
'No.' he said, 'I mean, I am, but I'm me really.'  
  
'I know' she said, 'I'm really sorry about what happened to you guys back there.'  
  
'It happens' he said shrugging slightly. 'I'll see you around, maybe.'  
  
He started to walk away. Lydia still stood there awkwardly. 'What's your power?' she shouted after him.  
  
He faced her, and gestured to his eyes. 'What do you think?'  
  
She closed the distance between them. 'What happens?'  
  
'Red light, anything in it's path is, well it's not pleasant. I'm just a weapon really.' He laughed harshly.  
  
Lydia came even closer, and they were now almost touching. 'I don't think so.'  
  
She reached up to his face and he flinched slightly. She pulled off his glasses gently and he squeezed his eyes shut. She kissed his closed eyelids, and he almost opened them in surprise.  
  
'You have beautiful eyelids.' She whispered. Scott finally smiled.  
  
'I have to go, they'll be there with their pitchforks at the house soon.' He made to go.  
  
'Let's go then. I'm coming with you.'  
  
Scott looked at her as though she were insane. 'You're kidding aren't you?'  
  
Lydia put her hands on her hips. 'Are you going to send me away just because I'm different from you?' she asked lightly.  
  
People were starting to come out the doors to see if they'd left yet. When the caught sight of Scott they began to shout.  
  
He grabbed her hand.  
  
'You're right, you're great, and I'm stupid, let's go!'  
  
They ran off together back to the house.  
  
  
  
DISCLAIMER: Characters and situation are property of Marvel and WB  
  
AUTHORS NOTE: It's been a while again, hasn't it? Sorry!! But I've been really busy and I've had lots of ideas for the story, I just have to try and find a way to fit them in!! I was going to bring in the three weird guys, but they didn't quite fit in with this chapter so I thought I'd bring them in at the beginning of the next one, which will be up sooner than this was! Honest! Keep reviewing, it keeps me going!!! Thank you. 


	12. A struggle and a strange airplane flight

Chapter 12  
  
'What the hell is she doing here?'   
  
  
  
The voice was that of Lance, looking directly at Lydia with a face of disbelief. Gasping for air following the breathless seconds in which they'd all made their escape from school, everyone had failed to notice the 'normal' person who'd come along with them. Now Lance eyed the girl with a mix of fear and distaste Scott stepped into the wake.  
  
'She came back with me.' He said, facing off at Lance like he'd done countless times before they'd been anything close to friends, and the old enmity creeping to the surface just like always.   
  
Avalanche responded to the challenge. 'It was people like her that just did that to us! What do you think will happen when they come here to tear down the gates and she's waving from the inside?' he moved his attention from Scott to Lydia, finally addressing her. 'And you, if you have to chose between him and everyone else, what do you think you'll do?'  
  
Lydia looked stricken. 'They're wrong, they'll calm down soon and see that, things won't get that bad.' She sounded doubtful even as the words tumbled from her lips. Those around shook their heads slowly, they'd seen to much to have faith in the sentiments.   
  
Lance laughed, an empty, hollowed out sound. 'Things already are that bad, you have no idea what you are walking into to.'  
  
He looked to Kitty, standing shell shocked and shaking a little way away. 'If they get any worse I don't want to be here to see it.' He moved over to her and threw his arms around her, rocking the shaking girl back and forth.   
  
head leaning on her shoulder, he glanced back over to Scott, eyes full of thunder. 'She is not one of us, and you have brought her in, you have involved her now, I really hope you don't live to regret it.'  
  
Rogue stepped in, breaking up any further confrontation; the two boys were still glaring at each other like fighting dogs, old feelings leaping to the fore in time of crisis.   
  
  
  
'Enough' she said, quietly but so clearly nobody in the group missed a syllable. She faced them, reluctant a leader as ever. 'You're right, we've all seen far too much. All of our lives we've crept and hid and been ashamed because we're different. We have shied away from ourselves because of people who are meant to be 'normal, balanced, safe', she looked Lydia in the eye 'people like you.'  
  
'We've lived to long in a world of hatred, too long divided. And now our lives are under threat from one of our own, from a thing that embodies everything the humans fear in us, and they are right to fear him, already he's done the damage to us.' silently they all thought of storm, of the massacred town they had once called home.   
  
  
  
'Mutant or human he doesn't care, under his hand we have looked death and destruction in the face and we're not even out of school yet! You're right we've all seen too much.' she paused, looked them all in the eye. 'It's not going to stop. Apocalypse isn't going to give up when you tell him you've had enough, the humans aren't going to walk away if you tell them you're tired. This is going to carry on until the end and we can either go down fighting or go down hiding, just as we've always done.'  
  
'I will fight all this world has to throw at me, but I personally have had enough of hiding.'   
  
there was silence, ebbing away with the growing sound of voices and cars and sirens approaching the mansion gates from the town that had welcomed then so curiously. Rogue didn't need an answer, there was no applause or cheers or words of support, but the reaction was made obvious. As one they rushed forward to begin the fortifying of their house from their neighbours.  
  
Rogue caught Lydia's arm as she made to help Scott at the gates. 'When they come here, and we begin to defend this house, there will be no way back, we can't open the doors to let you out, and they will not welcome you back. Do you really know what you're doing.'  
  
Lydia cocked her head defiantly, scary as she found Rogue sometimes, the girl was younger than her.   
  
'They on the other side of this gate are wrong. And besides..' her mouth curled upwards in a tiny smile 'he's worth it.'  
  
Rogue nodded and let her go, the two girls parted company, Lydia ran to help Scott climb onto the tall pillars that enclosed the gates of the mansion, as Bobby began the task of turning the fencing between them into a wall of solid ice. The other's were all engaged in similar tasks of defence, those who could produce no means of fortifying the building were designated the task of moving about, passing on reports of the approaching hoards and the progress of buildings. All of their skills would be employed, were things to come to fighting.   
  
Mystique and Logan emerged from the house a short time after the younger mutants arrival at the mansion, somewhat earlier than expected. they could have just assumed that the distant shouting they had heard was from a TV that had been left on, or even a figment of their imagination, but harder to ignore was the growing sound of sirens, and what was possibly a large group of vehicles indeed, unless Logan's ears were deceiving him.   
  
Upon leaving the house their fears were confirmed, at the entrance to the house they could see their young charges busy at the task of what looked like sealing up the mansion grounds. Rogue was barking orders to Scott, who seemed to be shooting jets of red at something in front of the massive ice wall Bobby had obviously constructed. Tabby stood on the second pillar, Kurt Bampfing to and from her side. She too was firing off bombs at the ground in front of the house.  
  
A grey whir sped past them, which they assumed was Pietro. Heading off into the gardens round the house, they could make out the faint noise of explosion, and something heavy falling to the ground. The sirens of police and fire department were no loud enough to be right outside the mansion gates.  
  
'Something tells me the kids got into more trouble than a detention today.' Logan remarked.  
  
Mystique eyed him scathingly, as she would have done when they fought on opposite sides and didn't have the same kids interests at heart. 'Now is not the time for that'. she bit back.  
  
Unusually, Logan dropped his head. 'Sorry' he murmured. Mystique was shocked for a moment at the sight of her companion looking so abashed. there was something in it, now was not the time to explore it, that would be for a time when their home clearly wasn't under siege.  
  
Mystique was running towards the gates even as she ordered Logan to help those who were in the grounds. He didn't pause a moment before following her instructions.   
  
  
  
'More coffee sir?'  
  
The smile on the air hostess's face was friendly and fake, and it slipped from her face the moment she left the passengers cabin. Peering out through the curtain that separated customer from staff, she gestured to one of her co-workers to come over.  
  
'Who the hell are they?' asked her friend in a stage whisper. Beyond the curtain, where the first girls hand was discreetly pointing, sat three heavily cloaked male figures, hunched and silent. Every so often they would huddle in close and murmur to each other, though nobody could hear enough to work out what it was they were saying. needless to say, they were the most bizarre passengers that had got in this traditionally family type airline for a long while.  
  
the two girls both flung the curtain back into place as the guy on the aisle seat glanced their way, embarrassed to almost be caught watching. in the split second where they had eye contact they could make out a haggard face, etched with the lines of both age and something they didn't have nearly enough time to put their finger on. he looked old, and yet somehow young, intimidating even.  
  
the two hostess's looked at each other, and back at the now closed curtain before forming a silent agreement. next time they would send out someone else to serve the drinks in that cabin.  
  
contrary to what the spooked girls in the staff spacing believed, they men they had been watching had been aware they were being watched for some time. the middle man leaned forward as stealthily as possible and, making sure nobody was properly watching, elbowed his companion in the ribs.  
  
'I told you we shouldn't have worn these robes Cassius, we were supposed to be travelling as inconspicuously as possible!'  
  
rubbing his now sore rib gingerly, Cassius hissed back 'don't you blame me Brutus, I was all for travelling in the storage bay.'  
  
'And don't you think that would have looked even more odd, if we were found crouching amongst common luggage?' Brutus responded.  
  
'I will have you know I am excellent at the art of concealing myself, thank you very much. You just wanted the cushy seating!'  
  
'Well you know how much my back suffers in travel, this is worse than the time we used those blasted camels!'  
  
The third of the three men had kept quiet for this exchange, but was able to silence those on his row with a finger placed gently to his thin lips. Raising his eyebrows imperiously, he spoke quietly to Brutus and Cassius.  
  
  
  
'The both of you are attracting more attention with your argument than our mere robes could possibly do. We will not be able to succeed in our mission if you act like squabbling children for the rest of this journey, because if you continue to do so I will be forced to gut you both like fish to silence you. Let us not lose our purpose amongst petty bickering.'  
  
Cassius and Brutus both fell silent, they knew and respected their friend enough to take his threat a tad seriously. Instead they glanced around the passenger cabin and their faces shifted into those of thoughtfulness.   
  
'You see it too then?' Brutus asked, casually and quietly.  
  
'Yes, the amount of those evolved on the plane, there are so many, how can there be so many in one place?' Cassius wondered.  
  
'Perhaps times have changed since we were last forced to journey, perhaps more are able to change now.' Brutus suggested.  
  
'Perhaps it is mere coincidence.'  
  
'It is not coincidence' the third man said, in that same quiet, authoritative voice. 'It has all been preordained. Since the war lords return to the surface of man, more have begun to change, to evolve into their potential. The war lord needs soldiers for his army.'  
  
'How can you be sure?' Cassius asked, and it was Brutus who answered.  
  
'Of course he's sure. Hermes never reads wrong with destiny.'  
  
For a second it seemed Cassius was considering mimicking him, but thought better of it at the look on Hermes face. When he spoke again, it was with less volume than before, but the words still rung out loud and clear.   
  
'I am sure of it. There will be a war, the challenger must be made to meet the warlord, and the fate of us all will be decided on the battlefield, just as it always has been.'  
  
Cassius and Brutus leaned back in their seats, the lines upon their faces grim and firm set. 'If only you could say how it ends.' Cassius remarked idly.  
  
Hermes responded. 'In blood, I should imagine, but this is what we journey for, to play our own part in the outcome, whether it ends in our blood or the warlords, who knows.'   
  
When the brand new hostess pulled the drinks trolley by, he ordered three whiskeys.   
  
  
  
  
  
Try as Bobby might, he just couldn't stop the guns penetrating the ice. Now the firemen had started with their hoses, and the defences were beginning to crumble, the shouting of the mobs outside the mansion gates were getting louder. Rogue was at his side in an instant, hand placed on his shoulder. 'Try and aim just in front of the gate, make it harder for them even to approach' she said quietly. Bobby grasped the idea in a second and soon the small road leading up to the besieged gates had been turned into a snaking ice rink. One of the arriving police cars couldn't stop before hitting the slippery surface and went skidding off the side into the grass areas that surrounded the road, the driver climbed out clutching his head and those trying to gain access to the mansion were only incensed further.   
  
One of the crowd stepped forward and hurled something at the walls, whatever it was smashed against the ice barricade and fell uselessly to the ground. Its impact was minimal, but it was soon followed by others. A barrage of waste and sticks and stones began to rain down on those defending the house.  
  
Somebody else came to the fore, an empty bottle clutched in their hand. 'Take this you freaks!' he yelled before hurling the glass into the air, it hurtled high enough into the air to pass over the defences, and as it smashed a piece of it flew ad hit Amara on the arm, making her cry out in surprise and pain. At the sound Bobby stopped creating more ice instantly, but the attack did not falter.  
  
'Came from Bayville didn't they?' somebody asked, remembering the now infamous town name, 'probably had a hand in trashing that, filthy mutants.'  
  
'And now they've moved on to our town. Demented murderers!' at the word the town increased in anger, if that were even possible, the stream of objects flying at the house became almost continuous. Something hit Scott just above his glasses, which came dangerously close to smashing, and he instantly crouched down clutching at a gash to his head.  
  
Mystique came running up behind them all, to where Rogue was standing, caught between giving orders and helping out with the actual defence. as she arrived, so did Pietro, racing in to tell them all that those further into the grounds were having to fight with a mob who had managed to slip in through an entrance other than the main one.   
  
Rogue looked to her mother. 'We can win this, I can go in and get rid of them all. I mean, we didn't want to have to hurt anyone but..'  
  
'The mansion is lost Rogue', Mystique said, in as gentle a tone as she could muster, 'for every group you get rid of, they will send a mob five times greater to replace them. we can't win this.'  
  
'We have to keep fighting for this!' Rogue said passionately, 'this is our home, we have to keep fighting for it.'  
  
'Honey, there are some things we have to know we just can't fight.' Mystique said softly.  
  
Her daughters shoulders seemed to slump at this, as if all the weight around her had finally collapsed on her shoulders. When Rogue spoke again she sounded more tired than she had ever done before.  
  
'How long will it take to get everyone loaded up into the cars and ready to go?' she asked.  
  
'Give us a few minutes to round everyone up, we'll take only what it necessary.' Mystique said back, pained at the look she saw on Rogue's face.  
  
'Then get them all together, you too Pietro.' she placed a finger on the lips that had been about to protest, and quicksilver bit back what he had been about to say. 'Come back for me when everyone else is ready, and we'll leave together.'  
  
his brow furrowed only a little, before he kissed her finger, nodded and was gone in a flash. Mystique hurried with her daughter to the gates, where now nearly everyone had suffered some sort of damage. there were holes appearing in the ice wall, where bullets had managed to break through.  
  
Rogue climbed up to where Bobby and Amara were stooped low, both bleeding from various body parts. Out of all those on the newly created battlements, only Tabby was still standing, firing off cherry bombs even though a nasty bruise seemed to be forming round her shoulder blade. Her face didn't betray the mark of hurt though, and she continued to hurl her defences down on the attackers.   
  
Kurt bamfed in out of nowhere, his eyes immediately set on his girlfriend, then travelling to his sister. 'Call her an idiot maybe, but there's one of the bravest people I know.'   
  
'Have you come from the other side of the battling?' Rogue asked.  
  
'Yeah, Jamie just split into seven. Scared as he was, it did even the odds a tiny little bit. Though not enough, we're losing, slowly maybe but we can't hold out Rogue, not without hurting the mob in a major way. what do you want us to do?'  
  
'We're leaving, get everyone out of there as fast as you can, and load them up into the cars. I'll hold them off.'  
  
He nodded once, moved over to his girlfriend, and wrenching her from the thrill of battle, they disappeared. Around her, Rogue could see Mystique helping the injured mutants down off the top of the gate and away back towards the house, and Rogue was soon standing, facing the mob alone.  
  
She didn't say anything. she held up her hands, and almost sensing something was about to happen, the crowds outside the gate halted slightly. Rogue closed her eyes, the pendant that was both a curse and a blessing began to glow from where it hung around her neck. there was a blinding flash of light all around the perimeter of the grounds, and those who found themselves on the outside of it stepped back in sudden fear.   
  
the light faded, and Rogue was still standing, almost gripped into place, her arms outstretched and her young face scrunched in effort and concentration. One of the policemen built up the nerve to fire a warning shot in the girls direction. it struck what seemed to be a barrier of thin air and exploded in a smaller flash of that same white light. Rogue winced slightly, but her and the house remained untouched.   
  
It took those outside the grounds far too long to discover that they could not penetrate the invisible wall Rogue had created. They were too caught up in anger and frustration to see the effort it was taking her to maintain the defences. Because every second she held the barrier was fast becoming agony.  
  
The car pulled up at the gate after what seemed like an eternity, Pietro beat it slightly in his hurry to get to her. Sensing as she always did that he was nearby, Rogue fired one heat filled gaze at the enemy, and tumbled back off the wall, knowing her boyfriend was quick enough and strong enough to catch her from the fall. They were in the car and driving away in seconds, Lance at the wheel, the last in the trail of vehicles.   
  
Rogue was still lying in Pietro's arms and seemed barely conscious, but she still ordered Lance to pull in front of the others and head for the grouping of trees at the far end of the garden.   
  
He obliged, happy to put on a spurt of speed and move to the forefront of the group. seeing the dark of the small wood they were approaching, those in the car looked to Rogue in worry.   
  
  
  
'They'll have all the entrances covered' she explained wearily, 'we need a less conventional way out.'  
  
They discovered what the way was about twenty metres away from the first group of trees, when Rogue closed her eyes and they started flying out the way. The cars didn't even have to brake to wait for a path to be cleared, as the thicket flew out of the way in front of them.  
  
Through this newly created pathway they came finally to a road, pulling them well out of the town of Bedford, and away from the mob that was undoubtedly following them at this very moment.  
  
Rogue opened her eyes, and laid on her boyfriend's lap asked 'did we make it to the road?'   
  
Pietro squeezed her arm and Lance said 'Yeah, thanks to you, what now?'  
  
'Keep driving, don't stop until you're not being followed, and you're sure we won't be found.'  
  
Lance lowered his brow. 'You mean after all that, we're going into hiding?' he asked incredulously.  
  
Rogue didn't answer, she'd already passed out in Pietro's arms.   
  
  
  
It was strange, the things the mortals did to compensate for their own inadequacy. This was what Apocalypse thought, as a television was wheeled in front of him by two of his followers. The strange box glowed and flickered and came to life, showing a serious looking mortal girl staring straight out of the television in what she clearly hoped was a convincing, business-like manner.   
  
she began to read out the latest news bulletin, and Apocalypse turned to the two that had brought the offending item before him. 'And what, dare I ask, is the reason for this?' he asked in a voice that was all too polite for the other mutants liking.  
  
'A piece of news sir, that we feel might please you.' one of them managed to blurt out. Even like this, sitting and at a point somewhere near to relaxation, their master made for a terrifying site.   
  
readying himself to punish those who disrupted his solitude, Apocalypse gave the television a glance, and to his surprise, found something that amused him to say the least, in the report the young woman was currently delivering.  
  
'Today a quiet high school hallway erupted into violence as a group of teenage mutants ran riot amongst a peaceful community. One human girl has been taken to hospital following the attack, where doctors have described her condition as being 'serious'.   
  
'In response to the mutants rampage, residents of the surrounding area headed up to the house the mutants had obtained as a place of residence, accompanied by police, where they were met with further violence. Several officers and civilians were taken to hospital with minor injuries, and the band of mutants fled the scene.'  
  
'Now however this reporter can reveal that several of the inhabitants of this 'mutant boarding house' were in fact present at the massacre of Bayville town just several weeks previously, and following this most recent mutant related attack, it would not be surprising were links to be made.'  
  
'the head of the band is a girl in her mid to late teens, described by many of her now ex-students as being withdrawn and prone to anger, the following picture has been reconstructed through witness description as official records contain no photographs of the mutants. the public is warned not to approach these 'people', as they are potentially armed and dangerous, and that any sitings should be reported immediately to the nearest police force.'  
  
'there will be more on this story after these messages, including a feared hostage situation, as a local Bedford girl is reported missing....'  
  
the television was flicked off, and the two who had brought it in were believed beyond measure to see that Apocalypse did indeed look pleased by the report.  
  
'You have done well.' he said in his deep, imposing voice. 'Now leave me.'   
  
As his followers hurriedly wheeled their discovery from the room, it became clear that Apocalypse had been hiding just how pleased he was. something resembling a grin threatened to split his ghoulish face in two.  
  
his enemy was now at a disadvantage, having to fight on two fronts just as he was. though nobody really knew of him yet, the world had yet to tremble, the filth had yet to see who it was that would deem them not worthy.   
  
But the girl was now known, and was being hunted by them, things couldn't have been going better even if he had planned it himself. the decision to lay low for a time had paid off and the army was growing strong again. the more his presence on the Earth was felt, the more those who had the potential to become something better than scum evolved into that potential. the number of prospective soldiers grew as each day went by, and as the humans attitude towards mutants worsened, so the more soldiers would come to him. and they who would be doomed by this would realise their mistake just as it was too late.   
  
yes, things were certainly going well, as good as he could have hoped for on his return to the living earth. and yet something had gone wrong. the refusal of the girl to join him had not come as a surprise to Apocalypse, in fact her opposing him almost made sense, it seemed preordained somehow. what he had not expected however was the flight of the psychic Xavier, and a mind reader had ranked highly in his list of wanted soldiers. no he found the mutant's position impossible to determine, and it seemed that the psychic had slipped through his fingers.  
  
no, he decided, the rebuttal of Xavier was not something he had factored for, but no matter, he thought to himself, the smile slipping back into place.  
  
there were others.  
  
'Do you think it was holding up that defence that took it out of her?'  
  
'she's just been so tired lately, this definitely didn't help.'  
  
'It's my fault, it's all my fault, I'm so completely stupid.'  
  
'Yeah actually it is sort of....'  
  
'Don't even say it!'  
  
That was Lance's voice she'd heard last, Rogue was sure of it. slowly, she fought to force her eyes open, and found herself surrounded by her friends, each of them looking worried as hell and slightly the worse for wear.   
  
Lance stopped his almost rant when he saw her awake, his face instantly softening into a tired smile. His arm, she noticed groggily, was tied up with what was clearly somebody's shirt, it must have been bleeding badly. taking a wider look around, her expression became clouded in confusion. she was still surrounded by trees.  
  
'But I thought I got us out of the woods, I thought we got to the road, did I just dream that?' she wondered aloud, and Pietro, smiling and cradling her upper body in his arms explained.  
  
  
  
'yeah you did great and we all got out safe, though not entirely sound. we thought we've been driving for hours, thought we'd stop here and Logan's taken Scott, Bobby, Sam, Fred and a couple of others to see if he can find a place for us to stay. Mystique is busy patching everyone up, but she wants to be told as soon as you're awake.'  
  
Todd got up at this to head towards one of the vehicle where Mystique was obviously hard at work. Pietro took this as an opportunity to lean in close and whisper to Rogue.  
  
'You had me worried, please don't put so much pressure on yourself again.' she could only manage a tiny smile and a half-nod in return, and it seemed enough for Pietro.  
  
'Kitty it's not your fault' she said to her friend, still sitting anxiously by her side. propping herself up on her boyfriend, Rogue pulled herself into a sitting position. 'they were always going to find out who we really were one day, and they were never going to be happy about it.'  
  
'But I certainly had a hand in choosing the day.' she said ashamedly.   
  
'It was an accident' Lance said firmly, reaching across to grip her hand. 'nobody here blames you.' here he glanced at the returning Todd, who Rogue guessed had been responsible for the earlier comment about things being Kitty's fault. the other girl stayed quiet, but didn't seem entirely convinced by it all.   
  
'What happened back there?' Tabby asked, something that looked like a once-frozen bag of peas held to her face. 'did your powers sort of wear you out or something?'  
  
'I don't know' Rogue answered vaguely.  
  
'Doesn't matter now' Kurt said, 'You're up and almost about again, that's what matters.'  
  
they were interrupted by another sound, something moving in the trees behind them. Rogue pulled herself both quickly and gingerly to her feet. 'What the hell is it now?' she said, with just a note of frustration in her voice.   
  
'Yeah' Lance added 'do we not get time to recover from anything?'  
  
nobody answered, they all lined up, holding their hands up in readiness. from behind they could hear a car door slamming, meaning Mystique had also heard the voice. Rogue saw Evan struggling with a limp to join the group, and thought just how true Lance's words were.   
  
the noise grew close, until three cloaked figures emerged from the thickness of the trees, they too holding their hands high, just not in attack.  
  
The middle figure lowered it's hood, revealing an old, worn, noble face, bearing an almost reverent expression. his eyes were fixed on Rogue, who was still spoilt for a fight.  
  
at his movement, the other two had followed suit, and now the three aged men stood before them, though those on the sides of the middle figure didn't look quite as impressed with what they were seeing as their friend.  
  
'It is the challenger' the middle figure said, in a slightly awed voice.  
  
Rogue and the others shrugged their shoulders, looking non-plussed.   
  
'Forgive me' he said quickly and eloquently, 'I am Hermes, and these are my comrades in arms, Cassius, and Brutus.' he gestured either side of him, and the two men nodded one by one as their names were mentioned.   
  
'That's lovely, I'm Rogue, and I'm going to blow your heads off in five seconds if you don't tell me why you felt it necessary to sneak up on me and my friends through the bushes.'  
  
The men seemed both startled and bewildered. 'But you are the challenger.'  
  
'No no, pretty certain I said my name was Rogue'  
  
'Who is the challenger?' Tabby asked, and the look Rogue gave her was enough to suggest that this wasn't a question she wanted asking.  
  
'when the warlord awakens, it is the task of the most powerful opponent on the Earth to become the challenger, the person to combat the warlord, to meet him in...'  
  
'now I haven't been counting exactly,' Rogue cut Hermes off loudly, 'but I'm pretty sure the five seconds has been and gone.'  
  
'it is our job to alert the challenger to their calling' he went on quickly, 'to remind them of their destiny.'  
  
'I don't want to know about destiny!' Rogue almost shouted back. Now the other mutants looked more puzzled by her behaviour than that of the visitors.  
  
'But it is the duty of the challenger...' Brutus ventured feebly  
  
'I told you my name is Rogue, I am no challenger!' she said angrily, before clutching her hands to her temples and falling to her knees on the grassy floor. her face screwed up in pain, her eyes opening and closing wildly.  
  
at once all in the clearing gathered round her, but by the time they had assembled Rogue had already stood up, showing no sign of injury, and had pushed her way through the newly formed crowd.  
  
'Do what you will with your destiny garbage.' she said hotly. 'I'm going to New York.'  
  
now absolutely everyone other than the girl with the fire in her eyes looked completely lost. 'would it be a stupid question to ask why?' Kurt said  
  
Rogue turned on her heels from beginning to walk away. 'Because Apocalypse is going after Jean Grey.'  
  
DISCLAIMER: Characters and situation are property of Marvel and WB 


	13. message to the readers

Hi all!

Wow it's been a very very very long time since I last updated here! Really over the last couple of years I just haven't had the time or inclination to write, but recently I seem to have rediscovered how much fun it is to write a story. I'm writing here now to ask you all for your views, I can try and update this story when I can (even though I'm committed again to writing, I still have a lot of things to do!), because I still have the rest of it all in my head, or I can give you, basically, a layout of what I was planning, just so you know how it ends. So let me know, and thank you so much for reading what I've done here and giving such great reviews, it really means a lot!

Ezmee


	14. A difficult journey and a dark day

Faces, blinding faces, and lights, and movement were all around her, she couldn't make anything out. But there was a voice, a voice that screamed 'no', again and again with the rhythm of a dreadful march. The light swooped in, a flash of spilled red dappled in the light….

Rogue clutched tightly at her head, willing the visions, the panic, all the confusion to just go away. The night air whipped around her face as though trying to slap her back to her senses, but she couldn't seem to get a grip on herself. She had had visions before, dreams or nightmares or whatever you could call them, but never anything of this ferocity.

The road twisted like a snake before them, the cars speeding along in convoy. Pietro was sat beside her in the back of the car, the three new arrivals looming like ghosts behind her…

About half an hour ago, after Rogue had first collapsed and then announced that she was going to hare off to New York, there had been a general outburst of concern for her sanity (tactfully though it was made). Pietro placed a protective hand on her shoulder, and Lance looked down on her face with kind eyes.

'OK, maybe that was a vision that you just had, but why don't we give it a little while, let you have some rest, and then you'll be able to tell whether it really was.' He made himself sound reasonable, as though he considered her to be fully in possession of her wits.

She tried to stand, tried to let them know of the all consuming nature that was what she had seen, how it had taken over her mind and her senses and brought her to a whole other place and time, but instead she staggered and fell back into the arms of Pietro.

Scott saw this and nodded, the alliance to Lance reborn through need. 'It's true, nobody cares about Jean more than me (Lydia couldn't help but throw a look at him), in spite of everything that she did to us. But right now we can't risk making a trip like that, risk getting seen, and caught, when we're not sure.'

He looked around for support and everyone nodded. Rogue felt alien, unsure of herself, and regretted more than ever her inability to really force her role as leader upon those who needed leading. She didn't want this, didn't want any of it. But she also knew that her weakness, her collapse, had scared them all, introduced those little seeds of doubt in their minds that she just wasn't as strong as they hoped and believed her to be.

Vulnerable as she was, scared as she was, she couldn't let anyone see it, knew it would be the destruction of them all. They needed a hero, whatever it cost her. Almost unwillingly her eyes slid across to the three wrinkled, death-like strangers that were standing slightly in the shadow, and ironically it seemed that they alone believed in what she saw. The foremost of the group bored his way into her face, and she felt naked. Fear flooded into her and she fought to her feet through the claustrophobia it induced.

'No' she shouted, more at herself than anyone else. 'I know what I saw. If we wait, then he will take Jean, or he will kill her, and anyone else who stands in his way. We can't wait to be sure. I'm going to New York.'

They seemed to draw strength from her certainty. She felt the unfairness of the weight that this put on her, but knew that at this moment it could be no other way.

Toad, who had previously been pointing at his temple and rolling his eyes, was the first to rise with her.

'Right, who's driving then?' he asked, deliberately casual.

Rogue looked at him as though seeing him for the first time, and then shook her head. 'Just me. I can't drag anyone else into this. We can't lose anyone else.' Unconsciously she glanced at Evan, who visibly flinched.

Pietro gripped her hand tight in his, so close that she could feel the moisture from his clammy palms seep into her own skin. 'You're not going anywhere alone' he said, with a low voice and fierce eyes.

He turned them like beacons onto the rest. 'Ok, how about some of us stay here, set up base camp, and the rest of us will go and see if we can track down Jean.'

'No' Logan responded instantly, 'we all go.' He seemed to feel that it was about time an adult had a say in the discussion.

'We can't', Kitty said, facing up to Logan without fear. 'It would be stupid to try and sneak all of us across the country. If we are gonna get to New York in time, we're gonna need to catch a flight. Which most of us can't do if we're running from the law. We can't risk letting Apocalypse get to Jean, but we also shouldn't go out there asking to get arrested. Pretty soon they'll be bringing the army in. Some of us are going to need to stay here, just to be safe.'

Rogue seemed ready to fight the idea of anyone else going at all, but her features caved in on her. 'Right, well every second we spend here talking is wasting time, so fine let's just head out. Bobby, stay here, and look after the younger guys and Lydia.' Bobby started to protest, as did Lydia, but Rogue moved over to the first, and touched his shoulder in reminiscence of the friendship that they shared. 'I need you to protect them for me' she said softly, so that only he could hear it. 'The rest of us will go right now to New York' she said more loudly, indicating Kitty, Lance, Scott, Pietro, Todd, Tabby, Kurt, Logan and her mother. 'Lydia has to stay' she said, as much to the girl as to Scott, 'it would be insane to let you go up against Apocalypse without anything to protect yourself with.' In response, Lydia said nothing, but she seemed to hold on more tightly to Scot, as if it would prevent her from having to let go. 'Evan, you have to stay too,' Rogue said, a little more gently, 'I'm sorry, but you're just not ready to do it all again yet.' The boy across the clearing from her regarded her with a quiet dignity, and nodded his head in acknowledgement.

She looked around at all of those coming with her, even the adults, in the eye. 'Don't any of you go looking for a fight. I mean it. We all saw back at the mansion just what this guy can do. And you' she said, wheeling around to her visitors, who looked slightly indignant at being addressed in such a manner, 'I don't know who you are, why you are here or what the hell you are talking about, and at this moment in time I don't care. I will deal with you when I have dealt with this.'

She turned away from them and stormed off towards the car, her previous weakness all but forgotten with the need to fight. Behind her, those going and those staying made their tearful (in Lydia's case) goodbyes. Rogue looked at the parting couple, trying her best not to show the wretchedness she felt at tearing them apart. Instead, as she opened the door, she gave the three men waiting a dubious glance over her shoulder.

'Follow us if you want, but you'll stick out like sore thumbs in those cloaks, so I really suggest you change….'

All this had led to the speeding mass of vehicles that now thundered down the roads to New York though the cold night. Rogue let Pietro's arms brush around her like a blanket, but try as she might she could salvage no warmth from them.

As they arrived at the airport, miraculously without meeting any cops along the way, they hit the first big wall in their path. Though Mystique did have money, and could certainly buy tickets for herself and for Logan to travel in the passenger seats, there was the small problem of all the student mutants amongst the group being wanted by police across the country.

This problem was rather strangely solved by one of their new companions, who now looked only slightly less out of place in one of Logan's checked shirts and jeans. The man named himself as Cassius, and assured the others that he was highly skilled in the art of concealing himself. From behind him, there came a small snort from one of his companions. Cassius seemed to ignore it, and so did Rogue.

'Ok, well as we have no better ideas, and we don't have any time to think up any better ideas, we'll have to trust you. But I swear, if you do anything to convince me that you are not here to help us in any way you can, you will be in for a world of pain.' Cassius swallowed and nodded, but his companions seemed somehow satisfied.

They sent Logan and Mystique with the other two men to go and buy ordinary tickets for the next flight to New York, and then Cassius led them along the side of the airport building, round to a door surrounded by garbage bins, and then through a twisting labyrinth of corridors which opened out onto the back vista of the terminal, where they could see plane after plane lined up and ready to fly. Rogue looked at Cassius in newfound amazement.

'How do you know your way around like this?' she asked incredulously. 'I mean, no offence, but you don't look like the type who really gets out much.'

Cassius tried, unsuccessfully, to look modest. 'In my spare time I study the inner workings of many worldwide public buildings.'

The boast did not have the effect he had hoped for. Behind him, Kurt cocked an eyebrow and said 'you must have a lot of spare time.'

'About fifty years' Cassius replied.

Rogue was no longer listening to them, but instead was squinting into the distance. As her eyes scanned the horizon, she seemed to spot something. 'Ok, this is what we are going to do. Pietro, do you see that plane there?' she put her hand in his and guided it to point to one quite a distance away. ' I need you to run to it… with Kurt on your back.'

Both boys seemed to find this idea not to their liking, causing Tabby to smirk. Rogue rolled her eyes. 'Don't be stupid, we need Kurt to see the baggage bay so he can port us to it.'

Tabby looked at her. 'why don't you port us?' she asked quizzically.

'Why shouldn't Kurt do it?' Rogue's reply was so short, that nobody seemed to want to press the point that she hadn't really answered the question.

Instead she moved on. 'Right, you have to wait to go till I tell you to, we need to get you onto the plane just as they're closing the doors. Kurt, this means you won't have too much time to port us all on, think you can move us two at a time?'

'No problem' he nodded.

'Ok then, get ready.' Kurt hopped onto Pietro's back, unable to see the scowl on his carrier's face. Tabby couldn't help but giggle.

'Gripping him a bit tight there' Lance said, the corner of his mouth twisting up. 'You know Rogue, maybe your brother is planning on giving you a little competition……' He broke off as both Tabby and Rogue smacked him on the arm. Kurt gave a thank you.

The baggage attendants began to move away from the plane. 'Ready' said Rogue, 'Ready…go!'

No sooner had she said it than Pietro was off in a very literal flash. A few seconds later, they breathed a sigh of relief as they saw a glint of silver move into the closing door of the plane. If they had been nearer they would have seen the balding guy driving the baggage trucks scratch his head as if unsure of something, before shrugging and driving off back in the direction of the terminal.

A second later, Kurt blinked into view, falling about five meters away from them. He rubbed his ass gingerly. 'Man, I need to practice my blind porting a bit better.'

Rogue ran up to him. 'Never mind that now, let's go.' She and Scott held onto his arms, and disappeared from view. A minute later, a very tired and sore Kurt finished porting Tabby and Todd into the cargo hold of the plane. Cassius was still complaining bitterly that Kurt had ''accidentally'' dropped him onto a crate. Rogue had to tell him to shut up. They crouched amongst the suitcases and boxes and felt the engines of the plane grind around them, and the slow disconcerting shuffle that moved it down the runway and off in the direction of New York.

They landed only a couple of hours later, Kurt having to port them off the plane to a spot described telepathically to Rogue by Mystique. While it was still moving. Needless to say, Kurt was rather proud of himself as the last of the stowaways lay panting on the grass outside the airport boundary. Rogue smiled at him.

'Thanks'

He gave her his goofy grin in return. 'No problem sis.'

Kitty was helping Lance to his feet. Avalanche was still a little green in the face, he hadn't fared well travelling in the cargo hold.

Todd was still laughing at him for it. 'Honestly dude, no wonder your power is to make the ground shake, we take you off it and you fall to pieces!'

Cassius, on the other hand, seemed to have enjoyed it. He smiled broadly at the rest of the group, and exclaimed, 'lovely, my favourite way to travel.'

Rogue decided not to respond to this further outburst of weirdness, and instead led them all on a trek to the roadside, wondering all the while at the amazing ability of her friend to laugh no matter what the world threw at him. Just under an hour later, Mystique and Logan pulled up in what were in all likelihood stolen cars. Lance shrugged when he saw them, and climbed into the seat mumbling 'well, once you've broken one law….'

Rogue climbed in after him, her eyes full of purpose, focusing on the twinkling lights of the city that set the sky on fire ahead of them.

As they moved closer however, they saw that the lights of New York seemed slightly more active than usual. There were flashes, sirens, and with a sense of dread that struck them to the core, a thick billowing of smoke that trailed through the city and steamrolled the buildings from their line of sight.

Rogue gripped Pietro's arm. 'Oh my god, we're too late…'

He didn't reply to her, only indicated to Logan to drive the car faster, straight into the seething mass of smoke and light and noise that had clouded Rogue's consciousness since that moment so many hours ago in the clearing.

They emerged minutes later into a street alight with chaos. There were bodies, bodies everywhere on the ground, tossed about like flotsam from a storm at sea. Seen across the world through the cameras that hovered above the streets, seeing and yet seeming unable to do anything but see. Those who were alive ran as though their very lives depended upon it, which they did. They chased each other as wild animals do in the stampede, all desperate to escape the fret, and the hurt, and the pain of the slaughter that was taking place in this innocent city. None of those now caught up in Apocalypse's attack could have prepared themselves for the sheer and simple nightmare of it. Human beings- breathing, living and thinking human beings, killing other human beings as easily as though they were breaking twigs. The city around them, beautiful and alive, was being destroyed by an evil that was painfully real to everyone who could see, and who could give it no other name.

As they watched, unable to move in horror, a mutant with arms like tree trunks and a face carved from stone and hatred chased down a young mother and her baby, rushing to escape the path of destruction. He caught them easily, and the young woman gave one last, agonised plea before he tore the child from her breast, and threw it away like a discarded piece of rubbish. She barely had time to weep before he put an end to her misery. Mother and child fell side by side, inches apart from each other as death's merciless victims. Those around could only freeze for a moment of suspended, awful disbelief, before screaming again.

Lance clutched Kitty close to him, as though it could blot out the memory and stop the tears. Everyone knew now, for those entering this fight, not everyone would be coming back.

If the others around her had been looking at Rogue's face, and not the carnage taking place before them, they would have seen something break and shatter in her eyes, never again to be repaired. Nothing, nothing in the whole wide world would ever wipe the image of that mother and her baby now seared into her mind and soul. Fear, doubt, pain, suffering, all flooded into her head to erupt in a seething mass of fury and determination. She threw herself from the car, and raced towards the towering Apocalypse, seeing nothing now but the giant form in front of her. If the police and army forces that had gathered on the scene recognised her, she didn't care. She saw instantly that Apocalypse was quite indifferent to the general destruction being wreaked around him, and had quite a different target in mind.

As soon as she had sprung from the car, Lance followed, shouting 'to hell with this, this fight has been brought to us!' the others came after him, fierce as warriors on a battlefield, and cried to the night as the entered into the fray. Scott shot down the killer of the mother and child in a blaze of brilliant red, and he tumbled and fell to the ground where his victims now lay like tragic statues.

Tabby and Kurt worked together to stop a woman literally buzzing with electricity from looting and destroying a store and its owners. Kurt ported his girlfriend into a line of fire to hit him with a boom that blew her back behind the counter and out of the fight. They immediately raced out to join the others.

Rogue scanned the vista in front of her as she ran towards her goal, and realised that she wasn't too late to stop her vision, at the very, very least. She could see the shock of red that she now understood was Jean, backed up against the wall of a multi storey building, her eyes full of a defiant fear. Even though Rogue was too far away to hear her words, she knew that the other girl had refused the offer put before her, and she felt a renewed stab of respect for her once enemy.

Apocalypse seemed to shrug, before he raised his hands to deliver a fatal blow. At once Rogue dashed forward, light flashing from her hands and eyes. Beyond his control, the monster's hands flew up from their death stance and the bolts of energy soared from his finger tips, crackling in the flaming sky above.

Even before he turned, that gruesome face had twisted itself into a satisfied smile. Rogue didn't care. She motioned to a stunned looking Jean to run in the direction of the others, and faced down her nemesis with fire in all her being. Something seemed to sizzle in the air around them both, causing those who had before been bent on personal fights and destruction to pause and watch. Her friends broke away from their battles and gathered themselves around her, lieutenants ready as ever to defend their captain. The city, with its cameras and buildings and people, seemed to know that its fate would be decided in the fates of the two creatures that now faced off.

There were no words this time, no petty insults and bickering. Apocalypse fired the first shot, a blast of fire that scorched its way in a path around Rogue, but left her unscathed in its centre.

He tried again immediately, hammering his fist down like a clap of thunder. Rogue rolled, narrowly missed the killer blow, and let something akin to a sonic boom fly from her hands, making the giant stagger back a step or two. He recovered quickly, and sent a pile of rocks flying back at her. She grabbed them, not using her hands, metres before they struck. Her face dripped with sweat and concentration as though she really were carrying the load, before she hurled them mentally to one side.

And then she seemed to stop. She looked once more at Apocalypse, wanting to be rid of him more than anything else in her life. Her eyes closed, and her hands fell by her side. The pendant around her neck started to glow….

Apocalypse seemed to spy his chance. He looked incredulous, but nevertheless raised one more fatal load into the air, and tossed it at the still, little girl that stood before him. It soared through the air as though it were moving in slow motion, watched by the whole of New York, the whole of the nation, even the whole of the world, watched by everyone in fact except the person who it was aimed at.

But there was a flash before the rock could hit its target, as something very fast and very solid collided into Rogue and pushed her out of the way, letting the missile shake the ground and crumble to just at the impact.

Rogue looked disbelievingly at Pietro, who for his part glared back at her. 'What the hell do you think you are doing?' He screamed at her, his love spilling from his mouth in a terrified rage. 'You are not strong enough to do this now!'

'I told you not to get involved in this' she hissed back like a wounded tiger, too angry to control herself. She pushed him aside and hurled herself back towards Apocalypse, who had clearly found the disturbance amusing.

He did not wait for Rogue to regroup before he hurled lightning at her, which she bounced off with a force field. She tried to enter that moment of stillness again, willed herself as much as she could to once again move her mind away from the battle around her, but she couldn't force her eyes closed.

She swore forcefully, and aimed a piece of wreckage of her own at Apocalypse, hoping that for the time being she could get away with playing him at his own game.

He responded by picking up an overturned and smoking car from the street, and tossing it at her. She dodged it easily, but immediately had a feeling that she had done something unforgettably awful. Spinning away momentarily from the fight, she watched with a horrified inevitability as the car struck someone that had been standing behind, ready to protect her and brave to the very last….

And the city seemed to swim in a whirl around her, as Apocalypse sensed victory and walked away laughing.

DISCLAIMER: Characters you know about are property of Marvel and WB

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Dum dum dum! Who have we lost now? Promise that for definite will be updating a lot sooner for the next chapter! Apologies if this chapter ain't very good, have had a lil bit of trouble picking up the story, so continuity may be a tiny bit out! The next chapter will be a little less action too, and a lot more explanation, hopefully!


End file.
